Before this game, I was starting to think that Ben McLemore might be out of the league after this season. And, honestly, I might still kind of be thinking that, because McLemore seemed to turn from “disappointing but playable player” to “a pile of human trash so immense and unskilled that it should never be allowed to touch the court”. Dave Joerger must agree with my assessment, because McLemore had only appeared in fifteen games before this one, and his season-high was just eleven points.
I was surprised as heck when the Kings traded FOR McLemore after he was pretty much a bust for them. They traded Garrett Temple (a solid, playable vet) for McLemore and Deyonta Davis (who should be on a roster somewhere and I am mad about it). There must have been salary cap implications for Temple’s contract because otherwise the trade makes no sense from my point of view. Maybe they really wanted that 2021 second-round pick that Memphis threw in for them. They can use it on me once I finally get around to declaring.
After this twenty-point outburst, it will be interesting to see if McLemore continues to see extended time on the court or if he’s just a temporary stopgap for the injured Iman Shumpert. I honestly wouldn’t even blame Joerger if McLemore went straight back to the bench and got DNP’s for the next five games. That’s how useless he’s been.
It’s also worth noting that Benny Mac had a good game and the Kings still lost. To the Suns. Maybe this means something.