Ex-Lakers guard from Frank Vogel era signs deal in Turkey

Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Ben McLemore has reportedly signed with Turkish basketball club Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket for the 2024-25 season.

McLemore played for the Lakers during the 2020-21 season after L.A. won the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 campaign.

After starting the 2020-21 campaign with the Houston Rockets, McLemore came to the Lakers midseason and appeared in 21 regular-season games, making one start for then-head coach Frank Vogel.

During those appearances, McLemore averaged 8.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 17.5 minutes per game. He shot 39.0 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.

The Lakers did not retain McLemore beyond the 2020-21 season, even though he appeared in four of their playoff games against the Phoenix Suns. From there, the former lottery pick signed with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The 2021-22 season with the Blazers was McLemore’s last in the NBA. He played a solid role in Portland, appearing in 64 games and making six starts while averaging 20.1 minutes per game.

However, the No. 7 overall pick from the 2013 NBA Draft evidently didn’t do enough to remain on an NBA roster beyond that season. During the 2021-22 campaign, McLemore averaged 10.2 points (the second-highest season average of his career), 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from 3-point range.

After beginning his career with the Sacramento Kings, where he averaged a career-high 12.1 points per game in the 2014-15 season, McLemore also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Rockets, Lakers and Blazers in his NBA career.

At 31 years old, McLemore could still have many years of basketball ahead of him, and it looks like he will be doing it on the international circuit unless an NBA team comes calling. He has already played with a few international teams since leaving the NBA.

This offseason, former first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele earned his way back into the NBA thanks to his play during the Olympics for France. It’s not impossible to think that a strong international season could land McLemore a look from an NBA team.

McLemore starred at the University of Kansas, leading to him being a top-10 draft pick, but he never became the consistent scorer at the NBA level that would have kept him as a solid rotation piece for years to come.

Hopefully, he can revive his basketball career in Turkey in the upcoming season.