Philadelphia 76ers: 1 non-Damian Lillard trade target left in Portland

The Portland Trail Blazers are officially blowing it up… with one crucial exception.

Yes, you read that correctly; after trading away C.J. McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., Robert Covington, Norman Powell, and Tony Snell, the Blazers have remained steadfast in their commitment to building around Damian Lillard long-term, alongside Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkić, and a bunch of new players who likely couldn’t point out Portland on a map back in January.

Will it work? Will the Blazers be able to perform the rare on-the-fly roster rebuild without sacrificing their best player, or will they watch Lillard’s value slowly erode why their fight tooth and nail to make it to the first round of the playoffs?

That, my friends, is the question Joe Cronin and company will have to answer over the next few days, but in the meantime, don’t be too surprised if a few more lockers have to be turned over at the Moda Center, as any veteran role player in Portland could conceivably be had for the right price. But why, you may ask, is this relevant to the Philadelphia 76ers? Well, because there just so happens to be one non-Damian Lillard player who might entice Daryl Morey heading into the 2022 NBA trade deadline, a player he has previous experience with from his days in Houston.

Ben McLemore could shoot some life into the Philadelphia 76ers’ bench.

When Ben McLemore came to the Houston Rockets in 2019 on a two-year, $4.3 million contract, expectations weren’t exactly at an all-time high.

The seventh overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, McLemore split the first six seasons of his NBA career between the Sacramento Kings and the Memphis Grizzlies but never quite developed into the sort of well-rounded, Ray Allen-esque offensive game many a talent evaluator predicted coming out of Kansas. Even in his best season, McLemore only averaged 12.1 points in 32.6 minutes of action while attempting 10.1 shots from the field and 4.8 from 3, and at his worst, he was a deep bench reserve who only took the court for 158 minutes over 19 games of action.

After watching his minutes per game drop for five straight seasons from his 2014-15 high-water mark, McLemore joined a really good Rockets squad with sky-high expectations and not only made the team coming out of camp but actually cracked Mike D’Antoni‘s playoff rotation for 11.8 minutes of action per game.

Why? Because McLemore just started shooting and basically nothing else.

That’s right, after trying to be a Ray Allen-type early on in his career, McLemore attempted 80 percent of his shots in a Rockets uniform from beyond the arc, with 91.2 percent of those shots coming without a dribble. Now to some, the idea of getting better by doing less may seem counterproductive, but with a pair of elite driving passers who draw in additional attention in the paint in James Harden and Chris Paul, being able to hit open 3s made McLemore a vital cog in  D’Antoni’s offense.

Hmm… are there any rumors about Harden coming to Philadelphia? Interesting, interesting.

Since making his way to Portland after a season split between the Rockets and Lakers, McLemore has been a microwave scorer. While he ranks 11th on the team in minutes per game, his 8.8 points ranked seventh, with a 3 point shooting percentage of 38.8 on 5.9 attempts per game.

And when given a chance to actually start? Well, McLemore’s numbers are even more impressive, scoring 15.3 points in 28.1 minutes of action per game while hitting 42.4 percent of his 8.3 attempts per game from beyond the arc.

Boy, if the Sixers were to, I don’t know, trade away one of their premier marksmen from the two-guard spot, sliding McLemore into Doc Rivers’ rotation sure would serve as a solid consolation prize. And if the team remains intact or opts to instead move off of a player like Danny Green, well, McLemore is still an attractive option, especially since he only makes $2.3 million and could theoretically be landed in all sorts of different deals.

If the Philadelphia 76ers are able to make the stars align and secure James Harden’s services for the right to Ben Simmons and others, it will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest W’s in franchise history. After watching the Brooklyn Nets give away the farm for Harden a little over one year prior, Daryl Morey would quite literally be securing his former superstar for dimes on the dollar and gifting the City of Brotherly Love their best guard since Allen Iverson. But regardless of how that move goes down, the Sixers have other needs too, from rebounding forwards to a backup point guard, and shooting, lots and lots of shooting. While Ben McLemore only really fits the final category, he’s a certified catch-and-shoot specialist and would instantly give the team an extra option to mix-and-match in all sorts of lineups.