Ben McLemore Trade Rumors: Latest News, Buzz, Speculation on Kings Guard
With the NBA offseason officially underway, the Sacramento Kings have once again made shooting guard Ben McLemore available for a possible trade.
Continue for updates.
Kings Reportedly Still Shopping McLemore
Sunday, July 10
James Ham of CSN California reported that the Kings "have fielded multiple calls" regarding McLemore, Kosta Koufos and Rudy Gay. Ham noted there is "plenty of interest." On Friday, ESPN's Marc Stein reported the Kings were interested in trading away the trio.
According to a June 21 report from NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper, teams around the league were calling the Kings and inquiring about McLemore's availability.
Potential-Laden McLemore a Tempting Trade Chip
This is the second time in the past four months that the Kings shopped McLemore. Leading up to February's trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers and other Eastern Conference teams showed interest in trading for McLemore, per Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
At 23 years old, he still has some developing to do in the NBA, but he's shown flashes of becoming a solid 2 in the league for years to come.
His shooting percentage has hovered near 47 percent through his first three years in the league, while his three-point success rate has improved from 32 percent in 2013-14 to 36 percent last season.
McLemore is also athletic, and if his long-range shooting continues to improve, he can be an above-average scorer from anywhere on the floor:
On top of that, he is a decent defender, as he's held a positive defensive win shares rating in all of his professional seasons.
If he's dealt to a better situation than a Kings team that went 33-49 and was dysfunctional at times with the ongoing drama of George Karl's status as head coach, along with his relationship with DeMarcus Cousins, then McLemore could flourish and develop into a solid contributor for a team that needs backcourt help.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
