Report: Ben McLemore was out of shape for recent workouts

Kansas’ Ben McLemore was pretty much a top three pick on everybody’s board a month ago, but he may be sliding down some boards right now.

In part that is because the smooth-shooting guard out of Kansas didn’t help his cause in some recent workouts, reports Chad Ford at ESPN.com (Insider).

Multiple sources told me that his workout in Phoenix was not impressive; he wasn’t in shape, and he struggled to keep up in the workout. I heard similar things in Orlando. McLemore is in a tug-of-war right now between adviser Rodney Blackstock and his agency Rivals. It’s kept McLemore out of the gym and for the most part, out of workouts. How much will all of this affect the draft stock?

Probably not that much, because teams are drafting on talent (and think it’s the people around McLemore pulling him in different directions that is hurting his cause).

There’s no doubt McLemore is talented. He’s a 6’4” shooting guard, with a silky-smooth shot. He’s a late bloomer and a guy you can say the most overused of draft buzzword about — upside — and be right. But he isn’t great at creating his own shot so he needs to be paired with a point guard (or other shot creator). Our man Rob Dauster at CollegeBasketballTalk has said he thinks the ceiling for McLemore is the 2010 version of Ray Allen — a knock down shooter who can do a few other things and makes a great third player on a very good team.

In this draft, that likely keeps him up high. DraftExpress still has him at No. 2 to Orlando. He’s likely still top three, but we will see.