If the Chicago Bulls are going to keep Rajon Rondo next season, he’ll need a backcourt mate who can run out and shoot from long range when needed. His ex-teammate Ben McLemore might be available as a restricted free agent.
John Paxson said in the Chicago Bulls season-ending press conference that among the Bulls guards, Rajon Rondo was the only one who consistently played with pace.
If Rondo needs a young and athletic shooting guard companion, Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore might be the heir to Dwyane Wade if the Bulls are smart enough to try and sign him in the summer.
McLemore’s salary last year was a shade over $4 million and his value on the free agent market may be way lower than that, given the glut of guards in the 2017 NBA draft and the other free agent scoring guards also available, including former Bull Tony Snell, Dion Waiters and Andre Roberson.
Right after DeMarcus Cousins was traded, the rest of the Kings got a big boost in playing time and shot opportunities with new coach Dave Joerger and McLemore shone brightly towards the end of the season. He was called into the starting lineup after Rudy Gay had a season-ending Achilles tear.
McLemore did not disappoint and started 11 of 15 games, scoring 9.8 points, while shooting 52 percent on an average of 3.7 long range bombs per game.
An underrated scoring guard who can blossom into as good as C.J. McCollum on offense if given a break and a system that fits his game, McLemore may pay off be
tter than drafting another unproven rookie guard. Denzel Valentine and Bobby Portis are already among the best fast break studs on the Bulls and adding a veteran scorer for a speedy guard lineup should help Fred Hoiberg run his system better.
Even Cameron Payne may have an easier job next year if he had McLemore alongside him in the back court.
When McLemore was drafted, he was even projected to be something like Ray Allen, and although circumstances prevented that from showing through, he may still find a role as good as he has shown in Sacramento’s finish to this year. Of course, not having Cousins on the roster has plenty to do with this.
In his entire Kings stint, Ben McLemore was playing second fiddle, so both points and playing time were scarce, and he only got a good look or two when Rajon Rondo played for the Kings. McLemore got to run and catch passes in rhythm for open 3s with Rondo running a faster-paced Kings offense. I like McLemore because he is an explosive rim-runner, and he even attracted the attention of GarPax when they were considering moving Pau Gasol in February of last year.
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Career lines tend to be magnified too much by most media members over actually watching how a prospect might play in a system. McLemore has proven to be capable of shooting the 3 in a high-passing, three-guard system ran by Dave Joerger, and with Rondo on the Bulls, McLemore might actually be as good as Paxson and Gar Forman originally envisioned.
McLemore is only 24 years old and he barely got to break out with Cousins. It wasn’t until he played with Rondo that he got noticed. There is still plenty to like in him. Like Tony Snell on the Bulls, he was maligned by almost every stat line monger because he couldn’t deliver shots from long range with the Kings.
As things go in the NBA, a change of scenery and offensive systems may just be the thing to get McLemore playing up to his projected upside. I hope the Bulls front office lines up and grabs him while no one is looking through free agency and present him a good offer sheet.
Next: Examining the Nikola Mirotic restricted free agent market
Even at the same $4-5M salary (or higher if Pax really doesn’t want Sacramento to match because Ben is a restricted free agent) for a four-year tenure with a player option for a fifth year, 24-year-old Ben McLemore might just be that veteran Hoiball shooting guard the Bulls need on the roster.