It’s a bit of an open secret right now that Kings guard Ben McLemore is available in a trade. However, Sacramento doesn’t appear just willing to give him away. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Kings have rejected an offer from the Milwaukee Bucks to swap Ben McLemore for Michael Carter-Williams.

Zach Lowe also recently mentioned Milwaukee’s interest in McLemore earlier this week in his League Pass watchability rankings, but this is the first concrete detail we’ve seen about an actual offer.

Milwaukee is in desperate need of wing help as their star shooting guard, Khris Middleton, is expected to miss the majority or the entirety of the season. Carter-Williams will probably fall out of the rotation as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Matthew Dellavedova will be the primary ball-handlers. The Bucks have also been attempting to move Greg Monroe throughout the off-season as his skill set doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the team.

Rumors around Ben McLemore have surrounded the Kings for the better part of a year. We all know of his confidence issues as well as his inconsistent performance throughout the past few seasons. Adding Arron Afflalo and Garrett Temple through free agency will enable the Kings to move McLemore without losing too much wing depth, and the Kings will also likely be bringing in Bogdan Bogdanovic next season.

Carter-Williams is a good passer and rebounder who can’t shoot and is turnover prone (sound familiar?). He would be a serviceable backup point guard while Darren Collison serves his suspension and could become the emergency ball handler in the case of injury, further suspension, or Lawson struggling.

Personally, I would be fine with the trade and I would be fine if the Kings held on to McLemore to give him a shot under Joerger. Carter-Williams and McLemore both have major flaws on the court and neither player seems to be a major game-changer.

For now, the Kings appear to value McLemore more highly than Carter-Williams, but that could change as the season progresses.