Should the Sacramento Kings Still Believe in Ben McLemore?

Still Young

Let us not lose sight of the fact that McLemore is still a very young player.  He turned 23 years old in February of this year.  He was born in 1993, the same year as Buddy Hield, the 6th overall pick in this year’s draft.  McLemore is in fact only roughly ten months older than Hield.  They are different players, but nobody expects Hield to be done improving as a player or is writing off his career as an NBA bust.  We have seen McLemore in the NBA for 3 years, but he is still very young and has the potential to improve.

Defense?

Ben McLemore rates very poorly on defense.  Looking at his career numbers, he provides little in terms defensive rebounds (2.2 per game), steals (0.8 per game), and blocks (0.2 per game) for playing 27.2 minutes per game for his career.  His traditional defensive stats are lacking.

If you view his advanced metrics, the defensive stats are a mixed bag.  His career average defensive box score plus-minus is negative 1.3, but he has provided positive defensive win shares in each of his 3 NBA seasons.  All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.

McLemore has the athleticism to be an adequate defender, but he needs to lock in.  He needs to commit himself on the defensive end and with the addition of Coach Joerger, who is known for being a defensive coach; I think McLemore’s defense will improve if he puts in the necessary work on it.

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