Houston Rockets: 3 goals for Ben McLemore this season

4 of 4

Ben McLemore Houston Rockets (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

1. Show the rest of the NBA he still belongs in the league

McLemore was a lottery pick coming out of Kansas and was drafted by the Sacramento Kings with the seventh pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. It was expected that McLemore would be one of the earlier names called in the draft, as he averaged 15.9 points and was a finalist for the John Wooden Award in college.

McLemore, however, has since fallen out of basketball relevancy, as Sacramento traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies at the end of the 2016-17 season despite him shooting a then career-best 38.2 percent from three.

More from Space City Scoop

Ben’s stint in Memphis didn’t last long either, as he only played there for one season. During that one year, McLemore averaged a career-best 82.8 percent from the free-throw line while averaging 13.9 points per 36 minutes. Despite that, Memphis traded McLemore back to Sacramento and the Kings waived him in February of the 2018-19 season.

It goes without saying that McLemore’s career has certainly not gone the way wanted so far, but it’s especially surprising that McLemore, who is only 26-years-old, was unable to stick with the Grizzlies, as they were a rebuilding team and could have used a young 3-point specialist.

Now on a loaded Houston Rockets team, McLemore could use this opportunity to resurrect his NBA career and show the rest of the league that he still can be a contributor. He’ll need to have a strong year to get back to basketball relevancy, as he went unsigned after being released in February.

Next. Houston Rockets: Top 4 role players in franchise history

If McLemore is able to have a strong season for the Rockets, he could secure a much higher-paying contract after this season.