top of page

Summary
After nearly falling out of the league around 2018-2019, McLemore had a bit of a revival in the '19-'20 season with the Rockets, playing nearly 22 minutes per game over 71 games and shooting 41% from three. McLemore cut out nearly all midrange attempts, taking only nine total that whole season. With good shooting from outside and some pretty solid shooting at the rim as well, McLemore finished in the 97% percentile in eFG% for this position, per Cleaning the Glass. However, those numbers were down across the board in '20'-21. McLemore shot 36% from three, took more midrange jumpers, didn't finish well at the rim, and his minutes were down.

The situation in Houston this season was a mess, and he never got comfortable with the Lakers. McLemore and his agent will certainly look to convince teams that the '19-'20 season is more representative of his actual abilities than this past season. I think he's probably somewhere in the middle of what he was that season and what he was this past season. That probably makes him worth the minimum, and he may struggle to even get a fully-guaranteed contract.
 
Cap Considerations
McLemore will be an unrestricted free agent with a $1.7 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Lakers could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $2.9 million. This should be enough to retain McLemore, since he settled for the minimum to come to Los Angeles. Alternatively, the Lakers could use their Mid-Level Exception to re-sign McLemore if he demands more than $2.9 million.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign McLemore as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also likely that McLemore only gets minimum offers.

Potential Teams: Knicks, Wizards, 76ers, Lakers, Bucks

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $2.4 million (non-guaranteed) with the Knicks

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.4 million ($1.7 million cap hit ) with the Trailblazers

McLemore signed for the minimum as expected, but was able to get a fully-guaranteed contract.

Last updated: 8/20/2021

bottom of page