Free Agent Cop or Drop?: Ben McLemore

Ben McLemore will be a restricted free agent this summer. Should the Sacramento Kings resign him or let him walk?

The Sacramento Kings have a tough decision regarding their young two-guard in Ben McLemore. He will become a free agent this summer, which means that the Kings will have to open up their wallets if they want to keep their former first-round pick going forward.

Throughout this season, McLemore was mainly used as a spot-up shooter as he averaged 8.1 points per game while shooting 43% from the floor, 38.2% from the perimeter, and 75.3% from the free-throw line. Overall, an improvement was shown from Ben compared to his previous seasons.

Although McLemore was able to improve his shooting, that was the only part of his game that could be relied on. When evaluating McLemore’s performance for the season, inconsistency spewed out of his game. He would showcase flashes here and there of what type of player he could potentially be, but there were also times where he looked completely lost on the court.

Cop or Drop?

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In my opinion, I think it is time for the Kings to say bye-bye to McLemore. The Kings just have too many shooting guards on their current roster which will give McLemore a limited role.

For McLemore to keep on progressing as a player, he needs to be given a significant amount of playing time on a gamely basis. This season proved this notion as he was a more efficient player when he averaged more minutes per game.

Because of this is why I think re-signing McLemore would be a regret for both parties. I mean, how will they balance time between Buddy Hield, Garrett Temple, Malachi Richardson, and possibly Bogdan Bogdanovic and Arron Afflalo?

Final Thoughts

When the Kings drafted McLemore back in 2013, Kings fans were ecstatic to pick up a player that had the talent to become a top-class two guard in the NBA. Although McLemore has shown improvement throughout his four seasons in Sacramento, it has been a slow process so far.

I still believe McLemore has the chance to become a reliable asset in the NBA, but I do not think it will be with the Kings. The Kings just do not have the personnel in order to give McLemore the opportunities to help improve his game, therefore, they should drop McLemore this summer during free agency.