The NBA announced the Rising Stars Challenge rosters today and much to Sacramento fans disappointment, Ben McLemore was left off the roster. You can view the full team rosters here.
Unlike previous years where the game was rookies vs. sophomores, this year's game is being billed as "USA vs. The World" with foreign born players on one team and USA born players on another. Even still, McLemore should have been selected to the USA team.
In his second year in the NBA, McLemore has improved a lot from his rookie season, averaging 11.7 points on 45.2% from the field and 35.4% from three point land. Meanwhile a guy like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (who did make the team) is averaging 11.8 points on 39.2% from the field and 34.3% from three. McLemore has also stepped up the other side of his game as well, becoming a defensive nuisance.
Fortunately this doesn't mean anything in the long run. I'm disappointed that McLemore's improvement isn't being acknowledged by the NBA at large yet, but even still, I'm glad he's on our team going forward. He's a great kid, hard worker, and looks to be a Sacramento King for a long time to come.