The Sacramento Kings picked up Ben McLemore's fourth year option earlier this month so they clearly have confidence in the former seventh overall pick. McLemore's career has gotten off to a pretty good start but this season the Kings are deep at basically every position so the minutes will certainly have to be earned. Because of the added competition McLemore is expected to see his minutes reduced this season, according to James Ham of CSN Bay Area.
McLemore has started 137 of his 164 career games so far and has produced solid numbers but this preseason has not gone well for him. McLemore has reportedly looked lost so far this preseason and the Kings believe he is behind in his development despite their confidence that he will start playing better. Head coach George Karl believes that he may be playing poorly because of the added completion which is something he hasn't had in his brief NBA career.
"I can't deny I wish Ben would have played better, but he's a young guy. This is the first time he has faced a competition situation for minutes. I think he's feeling the stress," said Karl, according to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
McLemore is still just 22 so he has plenty of time to learn and develop but the fact that the pressure might be getting to him is not the best sign. Typically you would like to see your players rise to the occasion and outplay the competition but so far that has not happened with McLemore this preseason.
Despite his poor play this preseason McLemore is still expected to be Sacramento's starting shooting guard but his minutes may come down. Last season McLemore averaged 32.6 minutes per game but this season his backup is Marco Belinelli and they may be in more of a time share. McLemore also isn't guaranteed minutes if he continues to play poorly as the Kings have James Anderson and Seth Curry on their roster and they have had good preseasons.
The Kings are used to being at the bottom of the Western Conference so they would usually be able to deal with growing pains as they develop a young player but this season is different. The Kings have a very talented roster and expect to compete for a playoff spot so they cannot afford for their starting shooting guard to not be playing well.
This could all just be a blip on the radar as McLemore is coming off an impressive sophomore NBA season. The 6 foot-5 shooting guard played in all 82 games and averaged 12.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. Odds are that McLemore will be just fine but the fact that Karl thinks he is feeling the pressure is cause for a little bit of concern heading into the regular season.
