Ben McLemore’s revived role with the Sacramento Kings is good for him and the future of the franchise.
It’s no secret that George Karl has made some mistakes in his short tenure as head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He reportedly lobbied to have his franchise star traded over the summer, he’s tried to implement a fast-paced offense that doesn’t quite play to the strengths of his personnel and he’s inadvertently caused a lot of drama in the organization with the way he handles his business.
But another disturbing trend — one that he’s admittedly corrected over the last few weeks — has been the inconsistent playing time for shooting guard Ben McLemore.
Early in the season, McLemore was noticeably struggling, averaging 4.3 points in 19 minutes per game while shooting 28.6 percent from the floor through his first four games. On Nov. 3, Karl said he wouldn’t overreact to McLemore’s slow start…and then, on Nov. 4, promptly benched him for the Kings’ game against the Phoenix Suns.
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In that game, Karl moved Darren Collison into the starting backcourt alongside Rajon Rondo, while also starting James Anderson at the 3. Anderson scored 15 points on 15 shots in that game, but luckily for McLeMore and the Kings, that trend didn’t last long. Collision has only started two games this season, while Anderson only started six times.
Rudy Gay‘s ability to play the 3 or the 4, plus injuries to DeMarcus Cousins and the depth of the frontcourt, has given Karl the power to employ several different starting lineups. But over the last seven games, McLemore has been able to start at his preferred position at the 2 — except for one game Gay missed, where Collison moved into the backcourt and McLemore played the 3.
Looks like McLemore has responded to the benching. Swim to the light young fella
— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) November 20, 2015
In any case, Ben McLemore’s rejuvenated role in the rotation is a great sign for the future of the Kings, especially with veteran Marco Belinelli playing so well at the same spot on the floor.
When the Kings brought in Belinelli, they were doing so to bolster the rotation and add a valuable bench shooter who played extremely well for the San Antonio Spurs over the last two seasons.
But with McLemore struggling and Belinelli averaging a career-high 13.1 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting from downtown this season, it seemed like only a matter of time before Karl did something drastic and promoted him to the starting lineup full-time.
Fortunately, McLemore has responded to his reinsertion back into the starting lineup, averaging 9.7 points in 24.8 minutes per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three-point range over the last seven games. He had a 17-point, 7-for-12 effort in a loss to the Miami Heat, which included this monster dunk:
He’s not quite blossoming in his third season, but at the very least, McLemore is holding off the likes of Collison and Anderson in Karl’s rotation. That’s not exactly the greatest ringing endorsement you’ve ever heard, but for a franchise that regularly stunts the growth of its first round draft picks and then prematurely trades them away, it’s a small victory.
On the season, McLemore is averaging a career-low 7.6 points per game thanks to his slow start, but he’s also shooting a career high 40 percent from three-point range and has logged at least 18 minutes in each of his last eight games. Outside of DeMarcus Cousins, there might not be a player on the roster more intrinsic to this team’s future than the 22-year-old McLemore.
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Again, that’s not exactly an encouraging fact, but with the Kings sitting at 6-11, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this is probably not a playoff team. Karl has bungled quite a few things since arriving in Sac Town, but at the very least, he’s not jeopardizing the organization’s future by prioritizing minutes for Collison or Belinelli to chase wins over McLemore’s development.