Ben McLemore

After a full day to process this I am absolutely loving this pick. I stated earlier that you have a guy, Thornton, who has averaged almost 30mpg for this team the last two years. Comparing McLemore to Thornton you can get an idea of what the fo was thinking here... both guys can shoot (McLemore might end up being an elite shooter though, 42% 3pt, 87% ft, and 63% tsp are unreal for a freshman sg). That's where the comparison ends though... Thornton can shoot and needs the ball coming his way to really offer anything while he's on the floor. McLemore brings defense, offensive rebounding, a target on lobs, and a great finisher in transition to the table as well as being a great shooter. He averaged 16ppg on only 10 shots... he doesn't need the ball to do his thing.

All things equal, if we just substituted McLemore for Thornton's minutes then we've just SIGNIFICANTLY upgraded our team. I think many people's initial reactions about this were influenced by our feelings about Tyreke. Thing is this isn't about Reke... it's about THORNTON imo. Tyreke is gonna be resigned to run the point... he wasn't gonna be brought back to take over for Marcus. That's what McLemore is gonna do. Aside from maybe Otto Porter being brought in to replace Salmons there wasn't one other player in this draft who so clearly was an upgrade over a guy that played significant minutes for us last year. Great pick.
I think this could definitely be the case and I really hope this is how it goes down. However, we won't know for sure once we see how the FO handles Reke RFA situation. Until then, it is all just speculation.
 
Good post Baja.

Now, after thinking about this today, I think the obvious plan is to run out a Reke/MLM backcourt. It makes too much sense, it's an obvious pairing. What do we say a lot during the season? We ask, what would Pop do. What would PJax do. Well, given this roster, they'd pair the two together. I don't think the league, and specifically Malone/PDA forgot what Reke did as a 20 yr old. They recognize the talent. No if you have a talent like that and recognize Reke was best with the ball in his hands, the next logical step is to pair him with a guy like MLM, and if that were the case if makes complete sense why he was such a target for our FO. It also would make sense why PDA/Vivek appear to be downplaying Reke right now as any public comments showing how they value him will bump up his price. I get the impression they're being quiet and hoping to quickly sign Reke next week, and they need to as he has a caphold until he's either signed or goes elsewhere.

And, I think the reason it's hard for us to assume PDA/Malone would run out a Reke/MLM backcourt and we have reservations about it(some of us don't doubt it would work, just that it is the actual plan), is mostly due to our minds being polluted by the Maloof/Smart era. We have to think about what the rest of the league would do, and hands down I think most if given the option with this roster wouldn't hesitate to run out a Reke/MLM backcourt. But we're almost hesitant to believe that because of the Reke is NAPG crowd which has polluted Sac for 2+ years and Smart deciding he'd be best as a 2 or a 3 with half the touches he used to get. But as a few here have said all along, he's best with the ball, would be better with a lights out shooter who's not ball dominant like MLM, and even better in a system with structure, similar to GS last year which I bring up because the key player in running that system is now our head coach. It makes too much sense(we'd run out a slightly different version of a Steph/Klay backcourt). Ask yourself, would this be that tough to believe if we didn't just suffer through the Maloof/Smart era? I say no.
Glad to see you on board. :)

As I mentioned in a different thread...with bringing on McLemore you HAVE to retain Evans...because they just make so much sense together. If we had drafted Adams...who fits well with Cousins then keeping Evans at all costs might not make sense...but with McLemore...you just HAVE to pair them together to see how much damage they can do along-side DMC.

I really think all the silence from the FO is just to try to keep the price down as much as possible...and I'll be optimistic until they do something silly like actually letting Reke walk or signing Monte Ellis, ect.
 
I think this could definitely be the case and I really hope this is how it goes down. However, we won't know for sure once we see how the FO handles Reke RFA situation. Until then, it is all just speculation.
Kings are definitely in the drivers seat with Tyreke. Not sure another team out there will offer him 10 million+, and if they do the Kings can match. Maybe a team like Atlanta would go after Tyreke if they resign Josh Smith and lose out on Dwight. Dallas too. But some team will have to offer crazy $ to have the Kings not match. Kings could also S&T Tyreke if they really don't want him part of the team.
 
Pie in the sky sort of thinking...but what if the next part of the plan is to retain Evans then have DA use his Denver connections to bring Iggy on board. (We Kings fans have gotten jaded that no good things ever happen in the off-season...it would be great to see the FO do something to change that tune)
We'd have to amnesty Salmons...but I get the feeling that Vivek will amnesty Salmons if that becomes necessary in order to complete a major FA acquisition or trade.
 
Pie in the sky sort of thinking...but what if the next part of the plan is to retain Evans then have DA use his Denver connections to bring Iggy on board. (We Kings fans have gotten jaded that no good things ever happen in the off-season...it would be great to see the FO do something to change that tune)
We'd have to amnesty Salmons...but I get the feeling that Vivek will amnesty Salmons if that becomes necessary in order to complete a major FA acquisition or trade.
There wouldn't be enough shooting.. And just adding Iggy would not move us from dead last in defense to respectable. The payers we have need to learn how to block people out (defend the people without the ball). Our man on man defense right now is actually not terrible.

What's all this talk about starting a rookie too? It's nice to say how you would like the team to roll out the lineup but y'all are kind of getting ahead of yourselves a bit. I am happy with the pick overall, but I don't expect him to start right when he gets here.
 
He'll probably start. Tyreke started, Cousins started, and I think MLM will too. His game works well in a starting lineup, while IT and MT are better to inject offense off the bench. He may not get 36 minutes a game at first until he gets his feet wet.
 
There wouldn't be enough shooting.. And just adding Iggy would not move us from dead last in defense to respectable. The payers we have need to learn how to block people out (defend the people without the ball). Our man on man defense right now is actually not terrible.

What's all this talk about starting a rookie too? It's nice to say how you would like the team to roll out the lineup but y'all are kind of getting ahead of yourselves a bit. I am happy with the pick overall, but I don't expect him to start right when he gets here.
I think there would be more than enough shooting and defense with a starting lineup of Evans/McLemore/Iggy/Patterson/Cousins. It would be similar to the 3 point shooting of most of the other starting lineups for good teams in the league.

And the D would be monumentally better with Reke/Mac instead of Reke/IT and Iggy replacing the Fish. We still need to focus on better overall team d and fundamentals but bringing in better defenders would be a big step in the right direction.
 
I think there would be more than enough shooting and defense with a starting lineup of Evans/McLemore/Iggy/Patterson/Cousins. It would be similar to the 3 point shooting of most of the other starting lineups for good teams in the league.

And the D would be monumentally better with Reke/Mac instead of Reke/IT and Iggy replacing the Fish. We still need to focus on better overall team d and fundamentals but bringing in better defenders would be a big step in the right direction.
i think we may make the playoffs next season with that line up. there would be 2 players to spread the floor for our 2 stars to work. i don't think they could pressure us in the back court with reke and iggy being able to bring the ball up the floor. reke must be licking his chops to go against all the midget guards next season. i can see plenty of defenses collapsing because their guards can't contain reke.

rotation for 2013 :)
cousins/jt
ppat/jt
iggy/fa
mlm/reke
reke/mcalum
 
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I think there would be more than enough shooting and defense with a starting lineup of Evans/McLemore/Iggy/Patterson/Cousins. It would be similar to the 3 point shooting of most of the other starting lineups for good teams in the league.

And the D would be monumentally better with Reke/Mac instead of Reke/IT and Iggy replacing the Fish. We still need to focus on better overall team d and fundamentals but bringing in better defenders would be a big step in the right direction.
We can't afford Iggy and Reke.
 
We can't afford Iggy and Reke.
You keep repeating this as though there is no way to maneuver the salary cap beyond what we have on the books. PDA was hired in large part because he's a salary cap expert. Not saying it would be easy and we'd have to find a perfect situation but it could be done.
 
I think there would be more than enough shooting and defense with a starting lineup of Evans/McLemore/Iggy/Patterson/Cousins. It would be similar to the 3 point shooting of most of the other starting lineups for good teams in the league.

And the D would be monumentally better with Reke/Mac instead of Reke/IT and Iggy replacing the Fish. We still need to focus on better overall team d and fundamentals but bringing in better defenders would be a big step in the right direction.
The % and attempts (depending on how many 3s McLemore shoots) will be down. I believe the three we are putting out there now (Salmons/Evans/IT) are averaging about 35%? I haven't did the math on it yet so I could be wrong. We would in essence taking the lowest of the three we currently have and keeping him out there and bringing in another low volume 3pt%/shooter and then relying very heavily on a rookie to tie this all together. If anything I see our 3pt shot attempts going down with that group and the % for the starting SG/SF/PG going down. The defense would be better but we would be scoring a lot fewer points so we would probably be in the same boat we are now. 30-35 wins.

I am going to stick to my lineup until I see different... And of course I am also sicking by the notion that at least one, possibly two of those five below won't be here when the season starts.

PG: IT
SG: Evans
SF: Salmons
PF: Thompson
C - Cousins
 
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I am going to stick to my lineup until I see different... And of course I am also sicking by the notion that at least one, possibly two of those five below won't be here when the season starts.

PG: IT
SG: Evans
SF: Salmons
PF: Thompson
C - Cousins
Why are you even discussing a lineup without MLM? Even if he doesn't start from day one(doubtful) and it's instead a month in, or Christmas, it's still likely Reke/MLM going forward. Exactly why would you take much, if anything from a lineup that is nothing but a short term fill in, which it's highly doubtful it's even a fill in lineup in the first place? There's no point in even worrying/dissecting/analyzing anything regarding an IT/Reke/Salmons trio.
 
The % and attempts (depending on how many 3s McLemore shoots) will be down. I believe the three we are putting out there now (Salmons/Evans/IT) are averaging about 35%? I haven't did the math on it yet so I could be wrong. We would in essence taking the lowest of the three we currently have and keeping him out there and bringing in another low volume 3pt%/shooter and then relying very heavily on a rookie to tie this all together. If anything I see our 3pt shot attempts going down with that group and the % for the starting SG/SF/PG going down. The defense would be better but we would be scoring a lot fewer points so we would probably be in the same boat we are now. 30-35 wins.

I am going to stick to my lineup until I see different... And of course I am also sicking by the notion that at least one, possibly two of those five below won't be here when the season starts.

PG: IT
SG: Evans
SF: Salmons
PF: Thompson
C - Cousins
You really think Lawson/Iggy/Galinari/Faried/Koufas would score that many more points and win 25-30 more games than Reke/Mac/Iggy/Patterson/Cousins?

Reke/Lawson are a toss up. McLemore is younger than Galinari but would serve a similar function. Faried is a more effective player than Patterson but they have very different games. Cousins eats Koufas for breakfast. It amazes me that you think adding a stud rookie in McLemore and an all star type player in Iggy is less likely to win than keeping with the same crap sandwich we served all last year.
 
The % and attempts (depending on how many 3s McLemore shoots) will be down. I believe the three we are putting out there now (Salmons/Evans/IT) are averaging about 35%? I haven't did the math on it yet so I could be wrong. We would in essence taking the lowest of the three we currently have and keeping him out there and bringing in another low volume 3pt%/shooter and then relying very heavily on a rookie to tie this all together. If anything I see our 3pt shot attempts going down with that group and the % for the starting SG/SF/PG going down. The defense would be better but we would be scoring a lot fewer points so we would probably be in the same boat we are now. 30-35 wins.

I am going to stick to my lineup until I see different... And of course I am also sicking by the notion that at least one, possibly two of those five below won't be here when the season starts.

PG: IT
SG: Evans
SF: Salmons
PF: Thompson
C - Cousins
McLemore's threes were almost all assisted he's very good as C&S shooter, either in set position or coming off a screen. Anything off the dribble is a question mark, unless it's a dunk off of shot fake. His shot chart will likely include 2-3 shots inside off cuts and alley-oops, 1-2 dunks and occasional three-pointer in transition, 3-4 kick out three-point attempts and a couple of shooting off a screen plays. If there's big roster clearout, amount of attempts is likely bumped across the board. Also his defense is not a given - it will be a work in progress.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
Thing is this isn't about Reke... it's about THORNTON imo.
My thoughts as well. Malone has been quoted as wanting hard D from his players, and that they will be held accountable for effort on that end of the floor. MT was benched and eventually traded to us by the Hornets, and at the time the rumor was that it was because of his horrible defense. Malone was the assistant coach there at the time, brought in to turn around the D (which he did). Malone is now our coach, and MT still doesnt give a **** about defense. Thornton is as good as gone (finally).
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
We can't afford Iggy and Reke.
It would really depend on how much we paid Tyreke. We would have to amnesty Salmons, and possibly do some creative trading to rid ourselves of a few million here and there, but its possible they could pull it off. But I agree, it would be very tight. Not quite sure what Gary is worried about defensively? Iggy, Tyreke and McLemore on the perimeter has the making of a very good defensive group. Put in some good team defense, and maybe we wouldn't be top ten, but we sure as hell wouldn't be at the bottom. You pick up a couple of + points overall, and you win another 10 games or more.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
The % and attempts (depending on how many 3s McLemore shoots) will be down. I believe the three we are putting out there now (Salmons/Evans/IT) are averaging about 35%? I haven't did the math on it yet so I could be wrong. We would in essence taking the lowest of the three we currently have and keeping him out there and bringing in another low volume 3pt%/shooter and then relying very heavily on a rookie to tie this all together. If anything I see our 3pt shot attempts going down with that group and the % for the starting SG/SF/PG going down. The defense would be better but we would be scoring a lot fewer points so we would probably be in the same boat we are now. 30-35 wins.

I am going to stick to my lineup until I see different... And of course I am also sicking by the notion that at least one, possibly two of those five below won't be here when the season starts.

PG: IT
SG: Evans
SF: Salmons
PF: Thompson
C - Cousins
If Salmons is our starting SF this season, I'll personally buy you a lobster dinner. Not going to happen. I'll be shocked if he's even on the team.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
McLemore's threes were almost all assisted he's very good as C&S shooter, either in set position or coming off a screen. Anything off the dribble is a question mark, unless it's a dunk off of shot fake. His shot chart will likely include 2-3 shots inside off cuts and alley-oops, 1-2 dunks and occasional three-pointer in transition, 3-4 kick out three-point attempts and a couple of shooting off a screen plays. If there's big roster clearout, amount of attempts is likely bumped across the board. Also his defense is not a given - it will be a work in progress.
I agree with just about everything you said. At least in the immediate. However, he was a pretty good defender, and I think he can be very good. Just needs proper instruction. He wasn't one of these guys that coasted on the defensive side. Lets remember that he was a freshman, and that he had never played on the perimeter before. All in all, I thought he did a pretty good job.
 
Ben is a welcomed addition and someone who has a high floor.

If you asked me personally, I think KCP is the better player of the 2, and will be down the line aswell (Detroit are looking like the most exciting young team in the NBA right now imo) - so I hoped we would take him instead - but let's just say there are no losers here, getting Ben is a definite improvement to our roster, and while I don't think he'll be a future All-Star like I believe KCP will, he's gonna be a good player that's gonna be here and help us for a long time.

It really forces us to make some changes, and it'll be very interesting to see the direction this team goes to from here.
 
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There is always an option of sign and trade for Iggy! He would be a great addition especially if we are planning to go forward with Evans - McLemore backcourt. Additional ball handling and defensive presence that Iggy brings would be much needed. In a perfect world he would be a better 3 point shooter but we could live without that!

There were some rumours that Denver were looking to trade Faried for a lottery pick on draft day. Imagine getting both Iggy and Faried. The Kings would be a lot of fun to watch and would improve a lot defensively. Ideally the PF should be a great defender and weakside shot blocker but in the interim, Faried would not be too bad!
 
Ben is a welcomed addition and someone who has a high floor.

If you asked me personally, I think KCP is the better player of the 2, and will be down the line aswell (Detroit are looking like the most exciting young team in the NBA right now imo) - so I hoped we would take him instead - but let's just say there are no losers here, getting Ben is a definite improvement to our roster, and while I don't think he'll be a future All-Star like I believe KCP will, he's gonna be a good player that's gonna be here and help us for a long time.

It really forces us to make some changes, and it'll be very interesting to see the direction this team goes to from here.

I respect your opinion, but I don't think many experts would have picked KCP over McLemore..
 
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Why are you even discussing a lineup without MLM? Even if he doesn't start from day one(doubtful) and it's instead a month in, or Christmas, it's still likely Reke/MLM going forward. Exactly why would you take much, if anything from a lineup that is nothing but a short term fill in, which it's highly doubtful it's even a fill in lineup in the first place? There's no point in even worrying/dissecting/analyzing anything regarding an IT/Reke/Salmons trio.
I am not.. I just didn't put the bench in there or McLemore would have been right behind Evans. I am going off of what was basically the starting lineup for the last part of the year and saying that one or two of those players won't be there. So basically it's a "your guess is as good as mine" kind of lineup.


If you want me to put McLemore in there I will though.

PG - IT
SG - Reke / McLemore
SF - ????? (obviously Salmons will probably be out of here, but I have nobody else to put here)
PF: JT
C - DFC

It's not going to look like that when the season starts though.. Well it cant, because we can't put out 4 players in our starting lineup. But if we were really looking for a SF I would probably go with someone on the cheap with upside like Jordan Hamilton.
 
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If Salmons is our starting SF this season, I'll personally buy you a lobster dinner. Not going to happen. I'll be shocked if he's even on the team.
I still think Salmons will be one of the possible two which won't be here at the start of the year. But going off of what we have he's got to be the starter. Who else would we put into the SF spot right now (who's actually on the team)? Outlaw?
 
I think Pete will try and trade Salmons contract intact at first as part of an expiring contract. Salmons has value to teams like the Bulls, Indy, maybe even Denver until Gallo is fully healthy. When there are no takers, I think it's amnesty time.
 
I still think Salmons will be one of the possible two which won't be here at the start of the year. But going off of what we have he's got to be the starter. Who else would we put into the SF spot right now (who's actually on the team)? Outlaw?
Agreed. He's a good fit if Reke is brought back as our pg. I have a feeling we'll end up signing Brewer however.