Sacramento Kings: The Uncertain Future of Ben McLemore

With all the talk of Rajon Rondo’s spot in the lineup, Rudy Gay’s true position and how George Karl is going to utilize the three talented big men that are currently on the Sacramento Kings’ roster, not much attention has been paid to poor Ben McLemore.

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Coming off of his much-improved sophomore season, the 22-year-old shooting guard seemed a lock to start at shooting guard when the Kings season opened in 2015. After all, this is a growing team that is focused on development, and McLemore is one of those young, talented players that should have a good chance at developing into solid NBA starters.

This is no longer the narrative, or the truth, around the Sacramento Kings. This team is designed to win now, and whether that’s a great strategy or not is a topic for another article. This, coupled with Rondo’s addition to the team and Karl’s affinity for two point guard backups, may just mean McLemore is out of a starting job in Sacramento.

It’s been pointed out several times, but it’s almost a certainty that Rajon Rondo will start for the Kings. You don’t pay a guy $10 million over a single season to bring him in as a substitute. It’s just obvious. Darren Collison is coming off of an injury, but also played very well last season and might end up in the lineup.

The Kings also added Marco Belinelli, but I just don’t see him cracking the lineup. He doesn’t do much besides his excellent three-point shooting, and he didn’t really flourish as a player until his bench seasons in San Antonio. He’s a great shooter to bring into games, but not a good all-around player to start games.

So it’s probably down to Collison, McLemore and Rondo for the two starting guard spots. Which two will make it? Or maybe the better question is, which two should make it? Let’s try to figure it out, given the three players’ per 36 minutes statistics.

Rk	Player	Age	GS	MP	FGA	FG%	3PA	3P%	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1	Darren Collison	27	45	1565	12.7	.473	3.7	.373	4.2	.788	3.3	5.8	1.5	0.3	2.6	2.2	16.7
2	Ben McLemore	21	82	2670	11.2	.437	5.3	.358	2.2	.813	3.2	1.9	1.0	0.3	1.9	3.0	13.4
3	Rajon Rondo	28	68	2018	11.5	.426	1.5	.314	1.4	.397	6.7	9.6	1.6	0.1	3.7	2.7	10.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/20/2015.

Clearly all three of these players are good in their own way. Collison is a scorer, and he’s a capable one at that. He boasts the highest field goal and three-point percentages by far among the group, and I think he easily deserves starting minutes given he’s healthy. Those are really solid offensive numbers.

Rondo is, of course, a passer. Even in his worst-ever season, he still managed nearly 10 assists per 36 minutes. Clearly he’s a terrible shooter, although he is the best rebounder and racks up the most steals among the bunch. Although he has a lot of problems scoring, Rondo clearly has strengths as well.

Although he has the edge in free-throw shooting and turnovers per 36, the most important advantage McLemore has is age. Being just 21, McLemore could improve to be a better scorer than Collison, and also be a plus defender, making him a capable shooting guard who could start for the Kings for a long time.

But he won’t start next season. Given Sacramento’s win-now tendency this season and the fact that Rondo and Collison are better at a lot of things than McLemore is, expect him to be used as a substitute. I’m not too sure where his minutes will come, seeing as Belinelli will also be on the wings, but I would be highly surprised if Collison and Rondo aren’t starting for game one if they’re both healthy.

Is that the right call for McLemore’s future as an NBA player? Maybe not. He wasn’t terrible as a starter, and regardless of personnel moves will feel as though he’s been demoted. But it’s probably the best move for the Sacramento Kings to post a winning record that season, and that might just be more important than one young guard at the moment.

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