Ben McLemore Has Team Option Picked Up by Kings: Latest Details, Reaction
The Sacramento Kings didn't waste any time locking Ben McLemore up for next season. According to James Ham of CSNBayArea.com, the team exercised the fourth-year option on the 22-year-old guard, which means he'll be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017. The team confirmed the move Saturday afternoon.
Akis Yerocostas of SB Nation's Sactown Royalty noted why this is more notable for the Kings than it otherwise would be with a different franchise:
While McLemore improved in his second year in the NBA, he has yet to live up to his status as the No. 7 pick in the 2013 draft. In 82 games last year, he averaged 12.1 points a game on 43.7 percent shooting, including 35.8 percent from three-point range.
To a certain extent, McLemore's development has been stunted by the overall organizational dysfunction and poor roster construction in Sacramento. That could change in 2015-16 with the additions of Rajon Rondo, Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein. Not to mention, George Karl will have had an entire offseason to work with his team.
Regardless of whether he has been underwhelming on the court or not, picking up McLemore's year four option was a no-brainer for the Kings. Many are expecting him to take a big step forward in this coming season, and he talked to reporters in training camp about becoming a better overall player.
"I want to continue to work on it. Not just on my offensive game, but my defensive game, too," McLemore said at Kings practice earlier in the week, per Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. "Watching film, figuring out different guys' tendencies, how they play on the floor, learn from that and take it out on the floor and work on my defense from there."
Even if all the pieces fall right for the Kings this year, they might have a hard time cracking the top eight in the deep Western Conference.
Having McLemore emerge as a consistent option on the offensive end and a solid defender on the perimeter would undoubtedly help Sacramento both in the short term and the long term as it looks to continue building for the future.
