Injuries
I would be remiss if I did not mention the injury history of both players. Michael Carter-Williams has had numerous injuries in his three-year NBA career. According to Fox Sports, he had left hip surgery last March marking the eighth document injury in his career. He played a career-high 70 games his rookie season and that number has decreased every year including playing just 54 games last season.
Ben McLemore had not missed an NBA game in his career until last season. He had wrist, back, and finger injuries last season according to Fox Sports. That depressed his games played to 68, almost matching MCW’s career high.
Michael Carter-Williams’ lengthy injury history has to be concerning for any team acquiring him. He is young and he could put the injuries behind him, but it is hard to project more than 70 games for him in any season moving forward until he actually plays it.