Los Angeles Lakers: 2 Rockets role players that could be traded for
By Jason Reed
1. Ben McLemore
I think that Ben McLemore is one of the most overlooked role players in the league today. Don’t get me wrong, he does not even come close to the level of an Andre Iguodala or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but he does have some value that simply is not being recognized.
That is, in large part, because he has been on bad teams his entire career. He spent his first four years in Sacramento, a year in Memphis, another year in Sacramento and has been in Houston the last two years.
He actually played a pretty big role on the Rockets last season, averaging just over 22 minutes per game. He showed his value as a role player on a playoff team in that stint but still is not someone you hear NBA pundits talking about very often.
McLemore is shooting an astonishing 51.7% from beyond the arc this season and while that might not be sustainable, he did shoot a combined 40.2% the previous two seasons on 5.2 attempts per game.
I made this joke when the Clippers extended Luke Kennard but McLemore is essentially Kennard before he was traded to a big-market contender. He is not the greatest defender, but he is serviceable and is someone who can come into the game and get buckets off the bench.
His contract is only worth $2.2 million this season and is an unrestricted free agent.