Ben McLemore

[kingsboi]

Can anyone honestly say that any other franchise would give Ben a leash as long as they have considering the lack of production he has shown? He is in the NBA because the Kings are a tryout team for players...nothing more, nothing less. He might be joining his draft mate Anthony Bennett in international hoops sooner than we think.

 

[ParniValjak]

Can anyone honestly say that any other franchise would give Ben a leash as long as they have considering the lack of production he has shown? He is in the NBA because the Kings are a tryout team for players...nothing more, nothing less. He might be joining his draft mate Anthony Bennett in international hoops sooner than we think.

That whole draft sucked overall. A start or two, a few good, useful players but mostly just scrubs.

 

[kingsboi]

That whole draft sucked overall. A start or two, a few good, useful players but mostly just scrubs.

Doesn't excuse the Kings for keeping him so long and giving him all the opportunities and showing absolutely nothing for it. What am I talking about though, the Kings always make a move before it's too late.

 

[ParniValjak]

Doesn't excuse the Kings for keeping him so long and giving him all the opportunities and showing absolutely nothing for it. What am I talking about though, the Kings always make a move before it's too late.

Could not agree more. Some people, including Brick were calling on us to cash in on Ben a couple of months into the season while he still had some value. Now, it if weren't for injuries, he would likely be cut after the trade deadline.

 

[ppine]

He has great physical skills, there is no denying it. But the desire sort of comes and goes. I don't see the bb IQ, or understanding of the game that should be happening after a couple of years. He can't just out quick people like in college. No longer a fan.

 

[Joshoua]

If Ben can keep this up it would be huge maybe he has turned the corner. But with Vlade drafting big SGs in Richardson/Bogdanovic we'd still have room for all 3 with Bogdanovic playing back up sf. I'm rooting for Ben, great job Joerger

 

[kingsboi]

If Ben can keep this up it would be huge maybe he has turned the corner. But with Vlade drafting big SGs in Richardson/Bogdanovic we'd still have room for all 3 with Bogdanovic playing back up sf. I'm rooting for Ben, great job Joerger

if anything, Joerger might be boosting his trade value by playing him 35+ minutes for starters.

 

[DesertFox]

I remember when we thought we had too many bigs (JT at sf), too many small forwards (Donte at sg), and too many guards (Tyreke at sf).
Turns out we never had much of anything. If Ben plays well, he's worth keeping around. Adding Bog shouldn't change much.

 

[jcwkings]

if anything, Joerger might be boosting his trade value by playing him 35+ minutes for starters.

I don't know, every coach that comes through here always praises Mclemore, he must do well in practice, they all give him shot after shot and he has always failed. I think Rudy being gone and him basically playing with a green light has helped him, he needs volume shots. He's always been a guy that only gets 5-7 shots a game when we had Rudy.

 

[Kingsfan91]

I don't know, every coach that comes through here always praises Mclemore, he must do well in practice, they all give him shot after shot and he has always failed. I think Rudy being gone and him basically playing with a green light has helped him, he needs volume shots. He's always been a guy that only gets 5-7 shots a game when we had Rudy.

I always heard he was a gym rat and genuinely cares about getting better. Physically he's a beast, explosive leaping ability. The outline of a good player has always been there, he just needs to stay within himself and keep working on his footwork.

 

[John Galt]

sell high imo. And then I'll be rooting for him to have a great career wherever he goes. I'd rather move along tho with Bogs & Malachi & Temple & Darren when we're really small

 

[ockingsfan]

I really think Ben could become a Kent Bazemore type player for us.

At 6'5" and ultra athletic, he may be able to play small forward for the kings going forward.

Ben's skill set is actually more small forward than shooting guard, if you look at his handles.

 

[206Fan]

It's all mental with McLemore, and he himself said it multiple times in the post-game interview. McLemore has always been a hardworker. Coming into the NBA as just a kid, it impacts everyone differently. He had an extremely rough upbringing, and there were a lot of people knocking on him for his maturity. Is his head going to be in the right places? Is his head at the right places? How fast can he mature as a person on and off the court? Does he have the mentality to be anything more than a spot-up shooter? Does he have the confidence and capacity to assert himself as more than a 3rd option?
Being drafted by an unsteady Kings team didn't help his development very much. 4 different headcoaches in each of his 4 years here. Constant internal problems with the FO. Major problems between coaches and players. It's not hard to see where problems could've gone wrong with McLemore.

I'm not sure if he can sustain his high level of play, but it's always been mental and confidence. He just needs to finally put it all together. As it stands right now, he has all of the physical tools and skills to be a starting SG. Contrary to popular belief, SGs don't need to have a ball handling to dominate. Look at Klay, Beal, Gordon, Reddick, Matthews, and Hood. These are all guys who play mostly off-ball. It's a lot easier said than done. I really hope he can breakout before his contract ends. I don't know if he he has a long-term future here, but I do know that he has a place in the league.

 

[206Fan]

sell high imo. And then I'll be rooting for him to have a great career wherever he goes. I'd rather move along tho with Bogs & Malachi & Temple & Darren when we're really small

Ben has 3 potential guaranteed games left. I think Vlade and Co will sit down and discuss what they want to do with the SG position moving forward. If their plan is for Bogdanovic to come over, while assuming that Richardson will be fully adjusted to the NBA, where would that leave Ben? I think in that case, they might lean towards trading him. However, if the market for Ben is at best, a late 2nd round pick, would that be worth much? Or would seeing Ben play another 30 games be worth more than that? Getting to evaluate Ben for 30 more games in a more consistent role to see whether or not he would fit the future vision.

If Ben stinks it up, then both parties will leave knowing that it just didn't work out. Remember, Ben will also be a RFA. So if he does play good, but the Kings decide they don't want him, they could still get a small asset in return.

 

[Gilles]

I was one of the biggest supporters of Ben over the years, but even with his recent offensive explosions, he's still awful defensively. Granted there are not many guys playing consistent defense on this team, but Malachi does show some flashes of plus defender, and it doesn't seem like he's worse shooter than Ben. Plus Ben lacks positional versatility. If someone was willing to give an asset for him (late second doesn't count) in the next 2 weeks, I would trade him: with Temple, who is a key rotation player, but is not a good enough playmaker to log most of his minutes at PG, plus Richardson and Bogdan available, there's just no place for Ben in the immediate future due to his limitations.

 

[Bricklayer]

I really think Ben could become a Kent Bazemore type player for us.

At 6'5" and ultra athletic, he may be able to play small forward for the kings going forward.

Ben's skill set is actually more small forward than shooting guard, if you look at his handles.

6'4"ish and a short one lengthwise. And despite apparently playing as a big man in high school, really not very strong/physical when guys post him or whatnot. The boards tonight were really welcome because he rarely gives those either (9 tied his career high). You just couldn't throw him out there to be abused by LeBron and Kawhi and Giannis and Melo every night. Would get ugly.

 

[sono]

Knowing he would disappear next time, I'd rather give a green light to Malachi at SG.
He's been clogging the spot for years, it's enough.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

he's def boosting up his trade value. we have his replacement in the wings malachi/bog

 

[KingsFanGER]

We all like Malachi and we all like the thought, that the Kings will add another quality guard in Bogdanovic next season. The problem is, that Malachi hasnt exactly set the World on fire in his brief minutes and Bogdanovic hasnt even set foot on an Nba court. Why not wait until we claim, that they are the solution moving forward. Everybody is talking about the so called culture change. Well isnt it part of the culture change, that players actually need to earn minutes? If this is the case maybe we should wait, how Malachi and Bogdanovic actually develop before we ship Ben out for a bag of chips.

 

[Larry89]

1st Team All-hopeful to become an NBA player team

 

[The_Jamal]

We all like Malachi and we all like the thought, that the Kings will add another quality guard in Bogdanovic next season. The problem is, that Malachi hasnt exactly set the World on fire in his brief minutes and Bogdanovic hasnt even set foot on an Nba court. Why not wait until we claim, that they are the solution moving forward. Everybody is talking about the so called culture change. Well isnt it part of the culture change, that players actually need to earn minutes? If this is the case maybe we should wait, how Malachi and Bogdanovic actually develop before we ship Ben out for a bag of chips.

Na letting young players walk with the potential to get better for gritty vets like Matt Barnes is DEF the best way to roster build. We don't even need Seth Curry anyway with Bogdanovic and Malachi!

 

[Sac.1989]

If all Ben does or did in his time here relates to last night then I'm more than happy for him.

Being a GM is about the tough calls. This shouldn't one of them

 

[Blob]

As far as I'm concerned, he should never play another NBA minute with the Kings. He's atrocious. A real detriment to the team because he brings nothing to the table skill wise and constantly makes mistakes on defense. I absolutely cannot tolerate him on the court anymore.

Guess you missed last nights game.

 

[Blob]

There's an alternative paradigm that I think is worthy of consideration. I would encourage all Kings fan to consider this paradigm before closing the book on Ben, or re-opening the closed book or collecting the ashes and putting them into a pile from the burnt book.

I think as fans we get accustomed to the idea of incremental progress with a player. There's an expectation more or less of a linear rate of progress, becoming more efficient, making less mistakes, going from negative value to neutral to good to very good occurs incrementally with time.

But what if it doesn't work like this for all guys? What if instead of slow and steady like turning up the dial thermostat it is like flipping on a light switch from off to on? What if after so many reps, so many "learning experiences" (failures) it finally clicks? The switch finally turns on.

In my opinion the next 30 games for Ben are extended tryout to deem his future or lack thereof with the team. Games like last night cannot occur every 5 games, every 10 games. He has to be a positive contributor worthy of crunch time playing time in half of the games or more. He has to bring it. Specifically, 40% or better on 3s, filling the lanes, getting deflections, not biting on fakes and challenging shooters. If the alternate paradigm has validity, the switch needs to stay on.

 

[KingsFan80]

We all like Malachi and we all like the thought, that the Kings will add another quality guard in Bogdanovic next season. The problem is, that Malachi hasnt exactly set the World on fire in his brief minutes and Bogdanovic hasnt even set foot on an Nba court. Why not wait until we claim, that they are the solution moving forward. Everybody is talking about the so called culture change. Well isnt it part of the culture change, that players actually need to earn minutes? If this is the case maybe we should wait, how Malachi and Bogdanovic actually develop before we ship Ben out for a bag of chips.

Where is a report saying Bogdanovic is actually coming next year? Seems like the Suns traded him because they got tired of waiting?

 

[Bricklayer]

Where is a report saying Bogdanovic is actually coming next year? Seems like the Suns traded him because they got tired of waiting?

And we traded for him because Vlade knew him.

 

[KingsFan80]

And we traded for him because Vlade knew him.

I am just saying if you talking about next year and the plan, at this point is hard to to know if he will be here or not until it is confirmed. I agree with KingsFanGer. As of now are our SG are Richardson, Temple and McLemore.

And all NBA guys know each other. All GMS know every player to some extent.

 

[upinsmoke]

As I understood it he hasn't came over to the league because he would fall under the rookie scale but next year he will be a RFA.

 

[KingsFan80]

As I understood it he hasn't came over to the league because he would fall under the rookie scale but next year he will be a RFA.

Hopefully that is the case.

 

[Bricklayer]

I am just saying if you talking about next year and the plan, at this point is hard to to know if he will be here or not until it is confirmed. I agree with KingsFanGer. As of now are our SG are Richardson, Temple and McLemore.

And all NBA guys know each other. All GMS know every player to some extent.

No, you don't understand. Vlade KNOWS the kid. In case people have forgotten, Vlade was high muckety muck of Serbian Olympic basketball. He and Peja are Serbian icons. The odds of them not actually knowing, as in personally having a relationship with, one of Serbia's brightest young stars is pretty much 0%. The kid even came up through Vlade's old club, Partizan. There are only 7 million people in Serbia.