The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent wing Ben McLemore according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. McLemore was recently waived by the Houston Rockets and will now fill the final roster spot on the team’s roster. According to Charania, the Milwaukee Bucks also had an interest in signing the 28-year-old.
McLemore was the seventh overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in 2014 but never lived up to those expectations. In recent years, he has found a role in the NBA due to his elite 3-point shooting. The shooting guard is having a down year at just 33 percent shooting from deep this season but surpassed 40% in each of his previous two years. The Rockets have been an absolute mess this season, so hopefully, the drop in three-point shooting can be attributed to more difficult shot attempts as a result of the overall decline in the team’s talent.
The Lakers have noticeably struggled to shoot the ball for much of this season and that weakness has been exploited even more since LeBron James went down with an ankle injury. McLemore should be able to give value as someone who can hit shots and help improve a struggling offense. They’ll hopefully receive this three-point injection soon, as the team is currently 3-5 so far since LeBron went down.
Ben McLemore joins Andre Drummond as the second mid-season acquisition for the Lakers this season after standing pat at the trade deadline. Last year, the purple and gold found great success by signing Markieff Morris who managed to become a crucial playoff performer.
Whether McLemore can do just that remains to be seen; his defense, in particular, could keep him off the floor during the playoffs. But for now he can be a valuable depth piece to get through the rest of the regular season.
