Should the Miami Heat target Ben McLemore in free agency?
By Simon Smith
If the Miami Heat are unable to land a big fish this summer, they should seriously consider free agent shooting guard Ben McLemore.
Once again, the Miami Heat enter their summer looking to land a whale. With Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin their primary targets, team president Pat Riley will not for the first time utilize his persuasive talents top lure one of these players to South Beach.
Furthermore, the Heat have their own key free agent’s to negotiate with, namely Dion Waiters and James Johnson. And like Hayward and Griffin, they certainly won’t come cheaply.
However, if things don’t go to plan, Riley is going to need a fallback plan.
And one of those plans could be pursuing guard Ben McLemore, now an unrestricted free agent following the report that the Sacramento Kings rejected the opportunity to extend him a qualifying offer this summer.
Sacramento Kings to decline extending qualifying offer to Ben McLemore and he'll become unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 28, 2017
McLemore just completed his fourth season with the Kings after being chosen No. 7 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. In his four season’s with the Kings, McLemore endured four different head coaches and an overall dysfunctional and unpredictable front office and ownership group.
An athletic, 6-foot-5 shooting guard, McLemore presents as a tantalizing prospect this summer amid a cluster of big-name free agents.
With this in mind, here’s a look at the pros and cons of signing McLemore this offseason.