Ben “Easy Mc” McLemore is the perfect commander for the Grizzlies’ highly-advanced and state-of-the-art tank. He’s a fairly young but still developing talent who was picked high in the draft, so they have plenty of excuses to give him minutes under the guise of “developing” him. He’ll probably even produce some decent stats if given the green light, another cover for Memphis’ secret plan to lose games. But even if he does that, there’s no way he’s actually going to help the team win games. Just no way. Only 1 out of his 5 years so far has been a consistent positive on the court, and this definitely isn’t that year.
JaMychal Green is another good candidate, but if given free reign his newfound passing ability might accidentally result in a few unwanted victories.
I’m starting to worry that McLemore is going to find it hard to keep getting contracts to play for NBA teams. He’s still getting paid next year, and a decent amount at that, but after that, if he doesn’t improve, will any team want him? Each year that passes without discernible upgrades in his skills is another data point for teams that think he will never master those skills. And would they be wrong? He’s 25 now, which isn’t old by any means, but I can’t see any facet of the game where he has improved.
Maybe the tankalicious end to this Grizzlies season will provide some evidence that he can play if given a big enough role. Hopefully. This guy was supposed to be the next Ray Allen, remember.