Houston Rockets: 3 goals for Ben McLemore this season

2. Shoot 38 percent or better from deep

Ben McLemore was likely targeted by Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey because of his ability to knock down threes. McLemore shot 35.8 percent or better in each of the last five years, and shot 41.5 percent from deep last season. It seems highly unlikely that McLemore will shoot 41.5 percent from deep again this season, but if he does, he’ll likely lead the Rockets in 3-point shooting percentage this year.

Since entering the league, McLemore has taken over 44.2 percent of his shots from deep, and he’s on a Rockets team that has led the league in 3-point attempts in each of the last three years. In addition, McLemore has never played on a team with facilitators or pure passers, and now he has two of them on the same team in James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Harden will be certain to draw double teams and triple teams due to his innate ability to score and status as being the league’s best isolation scorer.

In addition, Westbrook’s athleticism and ability to get out on the break and kick out to open shooters will give McLemore plenty of open looks behind the line. If McLemore can get around 38 percent of his 3-point shots to fall, he could very well land another contract after this season, such as Gerald Green did in 2017.

McLemore shot 39 percent from deep during the preseason, which bodes well for his chances of shooting 38 percent or better from deep on the year.

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