Former Wellston High star Ben McLemore was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the No. 7 pick in last week’s National Basketball Association Draft.
The 6’5” McLemore entered the draft after one season at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks in scoring in his lone season of college basketball.
In getting McLemore with the No. 7 pick, the Kings felt like they got a steal on draft day. McLemore was rated as the No. 1 shooting guard in the draft and was projected to go anywhere in the top four picks. As it turned out, the Kings were looking into trading up for a chance to get McLemore, whom they had rated at the top of their draft board. But, they did not have to as McLemore slipped into their grateful arms.
McLemore’s slight dip in the first round did not go unnoticed by many in the league as even four-time MVP LeBron James chimed in as teams continued to bypass him.
“They sleeping on McLemore,” James tweeted as the first picks unfolded. “Just watch.”
“Ben is a special player,” Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro told the Sacramento Bee. “He’s someone our staff spent many hours, watching, evaluating, debating. We debated about a lot of players, but the one player we were sure about as the process began was McLemore.”
McLemore seemed hardly fazed with his drop to No. 7 as he expressed gratitude as the realization of fulfilling his dream of playing in the NBA.
“I’m not disappointed at all,” McLemore said. “I’m happy where I’m at. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to be picked by a team.”
As a freshman at KU, McLemore averaged 15.9 points a game and broke the Jayhawks’ freshman scoring record, which was previously held by the legendary Danny Manning. McLemore also shot 42 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
McLemore will make his professional debut with the Kings in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, which will from July 12-22. Sacramento will play on Saturday, July 13 vs. Dallas (5 p.m. St. Louis time); Monday, July 15 vs. Golden State (7:30 p.m.) and Tuesday, July 16 vs. Toronto (5 p.m.).
Many of the games will be televised on NBA-TVA.
