Ben Mclemore

[LarBrd33]

It's way too early to give up on McLemore.  He was bad overall, but he showed some flashes, which for a 20 year old rookie on an awful team is encouraging.  He was basically the same player as Wiggins in college, and I suspect a lot of the people saying they wouldn't touch McLemore would trade Rondo for Wiggins in a second (as would I).  Is McLemore on Wiggins' level as a prospect? No, but he isn't that far behind in terms of potential.  I'd gladly take a chance on him, especially if he comes with the 8th pick.

I mean that's my pipe dream scenario that will never happen... we work out a deal where we trade #6 and #17 to trade up and get Embiid (super unlikely)

Trade Rondo for #8 and McLemore (super unlikely)

Trade Green to the Hornets for MKG (I've heard something like this is possible, but I don't believe it)

It would leave us with a heck of a young core.

Just say you want Okafor and whoever the top prospect in 2016 is, because that's what we'd be headed towards. Along with more unwatchable basketball.

Oh absolutely.  Say you did that end ended up with someone like Marcus Smart #8...

PG - Smart
SG - McLemore
SF - MKG
PF - Sully/Oly
C - Embiid

Good young core... absolutely would bottom out and put you in position to add another star prospect the next year.  But I disagree that it would be "unwatchable".  Every game would be exciting as crap waiting to see if these guys eventually make the leap.

[Future Celtics Owner]

It's way too early to give up on McLemore.  He was bad overall, but he showed some flashes, which for a 20 year old rookie on an awful team is encouraging.  He was basically the same player as Wiggins in college, and I suspect a lot of the people saying they wouldn't touch McLemore would trade Rondo for Wiggins in a second (as would I).  Is McLemore on Wiggins' level as a prospect? No, but he isn't that far behind in terms of potential.  I'd gladly take a chance on him, especially if he comes with the 8th pick.

I mean that's my pipe dream scenario that will never happen... we work out a deal where we trade #6 and #17 to trade up and get Embiid (super unlikely)

Trade Rondo for #8 and McLemore (super unlikely)

Trade Green to the Hornets for MKG (I've heard something like this is possible, but I don't believe it)

It would leave us with a heck of a young core.

Just say you want Okafor and whoever the top prospect in 2016 is, because that's what we'd be headed towards. Along with more unwatchable basketball.

Oh absolutely.  Say you did that end ended up with someone like Marcus Smart #6...

PG - Smart
SG - McLemore
SF - MKG
PF - Sully/Oly
C - Embiid

Good young core... absolutely would bottom out and put you in position to add another star prospect the next year.  But I disagree that it would be "unwatchable".  Every game would be exciting as crap waiting to see if these guys eventually make the leap.

I could not agree more about the exciting part. I love watching our young teams to see if a player / when a player breaks out. I guess I got used to it with big al and gerald green and the other years.lol.

[Geo123]

It's way too early to give up on McLemore.  He was bad overall, but he showed some flashes, which for a 20 year old rookie on an awful team is encouraging.  He was basically the same player as Wiggins in college, and I suspect a lot of the people saying they wouldn't touch McLemore would trade Rondo for Wiggins in a second (as would I).  Is McLemore on Wiggins' level as a prospect? No, but he isn't that far behind in terms of potential.  I'd gladly take a chance on him, especially if he comes with the 8th pick.

I mean that's my pipe dream scenario that will never happen... we work out a deal where we trade #6 and #17 to trade up and get Embiid (super unlikely)

Trade Rondo for #8 and McLemore (super unlikely)

Trade Green to the Hornets for MKG (I've heard something like this is possible, but I don't believe it)

It would leave us with a heck of a young core.

A heck of a bad young core, with players who are athletic but have done NOTHING in the NBA.  That's a good way to be a perennial lottery team.  You take a chance maybe on one but not on both that's crazy talk...

[Future Celtics Owner]

He was 37 college games removed from being a high school senior... But in those 37 games he shot 50%/42%/87%.... That dropped to 38%/32%/80% his rookie season.

His shot is gorgeous. How confident are you that he will continue to be a "historically bad" offensive player?   He gained minutes as the season progressed ... They traded Thornton to make space for him as a starter. They fully expect him to be a cornerstone. It appears he has all the tools to be an elite offensive player in this league.

Someone already mentioned Avery Bradley and it's a fair example that I've actually brought up myself when discussing mclemore. Bradley shot 34%/0%/50% as a rookie.  Being an NBA rookie is tough. For 20 year old mclemore to earn a starting role is saying something. Mclemore had double digit points his last 5 games.  I'd bet on his shot coming along.  It's not a guarantee but fans writing him off now just seems short sighted and lacking in a proper understanding of NBA history. Even godly players struggle as rookies. Kobe averaged 7 points on 42% shooting as a rookie.   Durant shot 43% and a terrible 29% from three.  Not saying mclemore has that ceiling, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt way before I wrote him off.

Yeah, people should give the kid a couple seasons before calling him a bust. He got better as the season went along, so there is some promise there.

People also don't get, it's not like it was 20 - 30 years ago. A lot of teams had 10 year vets that would help these kids out, and most of these kids had 3 or 4 years of college behind them. So they would be a couple years older, which makes a world of difference. Now taking a kid at the age closer to 21 to 23 is considered too old.

He has the tools, he just needs to get his head squared up.

Fwiw, his last 5 games: 36.8 minutes  18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists,  on 45%/39%/79%

I'd gladly take a chance on him.

  I don't think you can draw any useful conclusions about games a team plays at the end of the season when the team's not in contention for the playoffs.

So we can draw nothing useful from how Kelly played at the end of the season?

[BballTim]

He was 37 college games removed from being a high school senior... But in those 37 games he shot 50%/42%/87%.... That dropped to 38%/32%/80% his rookie season.

His shot is gorgeous. How confident are you that he will continue to be a "historically bad" offensive player?   He gained minutes as the season progressed ... They traded Thornton to make space for him as a starter. They fully expect him to be a cornerstone. It appears he has all the tools to be an elite offensive player in this league.

Someone already mentioned Avery Bradley and it's a fair example that I've actually brought up myself when discussing mclemore. Bradley shot 34%/0%/50% as a rookie.  Being an NBA rookie is tough. For 20 year old mclemore to earn a starting role is saying something. Mclemore had double digit points his last 5 games.  I'd bet on his shot coming along.  It's not a guarantee but fans writing him off now just seems short sighted and lacking in a proper understanding of NBA history. Even godly players struggle as rookies. Kobe averaged 7 points on 42% shooting as a rookie.   Durant shot 43% and a terrible 29% from three.  Not saying mclemore has that ceiling, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt way before I wrote him off.

Yeah, people should give the kid a couple seasons before calling him a bust. He got better as the season went along, so there is some promise there.

People also don't get, it's not like it was 20 - 30 years ago. A lot of teams had 10 year vets that would help these kids out, and most of these kids had 3 or 4 years of college behind them. So they would be a couple years older, which makes a world of difference. Now taking a kid at the age closer to 21 to 23 is considered too old.

He has the tools, he just needs to get his head squared up.

Fwiw, his last 5 games: 36.8 minutes  18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists,  on 45%/39%/79%

I'd gladly take a chance on him.

  I don't think you can draw any useful conclusions about games a team plays at the end of the season when the team's not in contention for the playoffs.

By that logic we shouldn't try to draw any conclusions from the entire second half of our season.

  I'd agree with that. The team went into a free-fall near the end of 2013, losing 19 of 22 games. What useful conclusions do you draw during or after that?

[BballTim]

He was 37 college games removed from being a high school senior... But in those 37 games he shot 50%/42%/87%.... That dropped to 38%/32%/80% his rookie season.

His shot is gorgeous. How confident are you that he will continue to be a "historically bad" offensive player?   He gained minutes as the season progressed ... They traded Thornton to make space for him as a starter. They fully expect him to be a cornerstone. It appears he has all the tools to be an elite offensive player in this league.

Someone already mentioned Avery Bradley and it's a fair example that I've actually brought up myself when discussing mclemore. Bradley shot 34%/0%/50% as a rookie.  Being an NBA rookie is tough. For 20 year old mclemore to earn a starting role is saying something. Mclemore had double digit points his last 5 games.  I'd bet on his shot coming along.  It's not a guarantee but fans writing him off now just seems short sighted and lacking in a proper understanding of NBA history. Even godly players struggle as rookies. Kobe averaged 7 points on 42% shooting as a rookie.   Durant shot 43% and a terrible 29% from three.  Not saying mclemore has that ceiling, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt way before I wrote him off.

Yeah, people should give the kid a couple seasons before calling him a bust. He got better as the season went along, so there is some promise there.

People also don't get, it's not like it was 20 - 30 years ago. A lot of teams had 10 year vets that would help these kids out, and most of these kids had 3 or 4 years of college behind them. So they would be a couple years older, which makes a world of difference. Now taking a kid at the age closer to 21 to 23 is considered too old.

He has the tools, he just needs to get his head squared up.

Fwiw, his last 5 games: 36.8 minutes  18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists,  on 45%/39%/79%

I'd gladly take a chance on him.

  I don't think you can draw any useful conclusions about games a team plays at the end of the season when the team's not in contention for the playoffs.

So we can draw nothing useful from how Kelly played at the end of the season?

  You can obviously hope he keeps it up when he's playing in games that matter.

[jay]

On McLemore:

http://cowbellkingdom.com/2014/06/draft-retrospective-dont-lose-faith-in-ben-mclemore-suggests-long-time-nba-scout/

"McLemore averaged 11.9 points per 36 minutes in his first season in the league. However, he struggled mightily with his stroke, shooting just 37.6 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point distance. He also posted a poor true-shooting percentage of 48.5 percent.

Blake, however, believes that McLemore can make major strides moving forward, so long as he puts in the work. The 21-year-old guard showed progress following the All-Star Break, averaging more points per game (10.9 to 7.6) and posting a higher true-shooting percentage (50.6 to 47.4) than the season?s first half."


Compare McLemore to Waiters, Carter-Williams, and Caldwell-Pope:

McLemore  .376 FG, .320 3pt%

Waiters  .433 FG,  .368  3pt%   (His rookie year was .412 and .310 so a big improvement from 3)

Caldwell-Pope    .396 FG, .319 3pt%

Carter-Williams  .405 FG, .264 3pt%



So McLemore shot a better 3 pt % than any of these other guys in the rookie seasons that have a better reputation on this board.  If he makes a similar jump to that of Waiters, he should be able to get his FG% up over .400 and get that 3 pt % up over .350.