Michael Carter-Williams for Ben McLemore? Who Should the Kings Take?

Nov 25, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) during the game against the Sacramento Kings at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Sacramento won 129-118. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) during the game against the Sacramento Kings at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Sacramento won 129-118. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
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Feb 11, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) reacts after being fouled during the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Milwaukee won 111-103. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore (23) reacts after being fouled during the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Milwaukee won 111-103. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Production

First, let us kick this off with saying that the two men play different positions, so the stats do not always compare apples to apples, but let us dive into their offensive production and see what we can learn.

Both players are historically bad shooters from the field in their early careers.  Carter-Williams’ shoots 41.2% for his career and McLemore is slightly better at 41.4%.  The difference truly lies in their three-point and free throw efficiency.  Carter-Williams’ sinks a poor 25.5% from three and 69.0% from the free throw line compared to McLemore’s 34.6% and 78.6% respectively.

For the traditional statistics let us view per 36 minutes to get a look at the players if they played the same number of minutes for their career.  Carter-Williams’ career per 36 minute averages is 0.6 threes, 1.2 offensive rebounds, 6.7 assists, 3.8 turnovers, and 16.0 points.  McLemore’s numbers rate out at 1.7 threes, 0.7 offensive rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.9 turnovers, and 12.8 points.  The clear statistical output edge goes to Carter-Williams, but the efficiency edge lies with McLemore.

Schedule