Ben McLemore reviving his career with Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets guard Ben McLemore’s career was on a downward spiral and he appeared to be on his way out of the league. He’s reviving his career in 2019-20.

Despite quite a few moving parts switching in and out of the lineup and a blockbuster trade for Russell Westbrook creating a learning curve, the Houston Rockets are lifting off. Mike D’Antoni‘s team is 6-1 in its last seven games and superstar guard James Harden has picked up where he left off a season ago. What many didn’t see coming, though, was the breakout of Ben McLemore.

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McLemore was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Coming out of the University of Kansas and Bill Self’s prestigious program, the hype surrounding him was legitimate. After averaging a career-high 12.1 points per game in his second season, his career slowly began to take a downward turn.

Averaging 7.8 points a night over the three subsequent seasons with the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies, McLemore seemed stuck in a limited role-player capacity.

Last season was a lost one for McLemore. He played in just 19 games during his return to Sacramento, watching his scoring average drop to 3.9 per game and seeing a better percentage of his 3-point shots fall (41.5 percent) than his total field goal attempts (39.1 percent).

McLemore signed with Houston in July, agreeing to a two-year, partially guaranteed contract. When the deal was done, the hope was that a change of scenery would help the 26-year-old hit the reset button on his career and provide the Rockets with some much-needed wing depth. Through 30 games, that’s certainly been the case.

On the season, the seventh-year guard is averaging 10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. These numbers don’t jump off the page, but they’re among the best McLemore has put up in years.

His efficiency is still an issue (41.8 percent from the field) but he offsets that by being a solid shooter from deep (36.4 percent). McLemore’s offensive rating is at a career-high 116.

But wait, the story gets even better. McLemore’s play has improved by month. After getting off to a very slow start in October and getting his feet under him a bit in November, his month of December has been phenomenal. Here’s a comparison, broken down into games played (and started), minutes per game, points per game and overall efficiency):

• Oct.: 4 G, 7.3 MPG, 2.3 PTS, 30 percent FG, 30 percent 3PT
• Nov.: 15 G (5 starts), 24.5 MPG, 9.7 PTS, 37.1 percent FG, 31.7 percent 3PT
• Dec.: 11 G (3 starts), 28.6 MPG, 14.2 PTS, 48.2 percent FG, 42.4 percent 3PT

The results have been far from perfect, but McLemore is playing some of the best basketball of his career. The past month proves it. He’ll probably always be a negative on the defensive end, but he’s shown signs of improvement there this season. With some plus athleticism at his disposal and newfound confidence on offense, this new and improved version could be here to stay.

As the Houston Rockets continue to soar up the Western Conference standings, Ben McLemore is emerging as a very solid player for them. His swagger is back and so are his numbers. Only time will tell if he can keep this level of play up