Ben McLemore’s NBA career has not gone as planned. The 7th overall pick in the 2011 draft, McLemore has not yet lived up to the hype. Through three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, the guard has averaged 9.7 points per game on 41.4% shooting.
The lack of success may have led to the Kings giving up on the former lottery prospect. According to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings are looking to trade the 23-year-old:
Sacramento also has made shooting guard Ben McLemore, in the final year of his rookie contract, available for months, after acquiring Malachi Richardson in a draft-day deal and signing veteran Arron Afflalo.
This isn’t necessarily surprising. McLemore hasn’t produced enough for Sacramento but he is young enough to garner decent value in return. A team in need of young prospects can absolutely take a flier on the shooting guard.
For the Kings, the decision to move on from a young-ish player may be criticized by some. The team isn’t good enough to contend right now so the idea of building around youth is perhaps the most logical one. But they are replacing one young player with another in Malachi Richardson. Trading Ben McLemore opens up more floor time for the rookie and his veteran mentor in Afflalo.