On February 25, 2014, news spread that the Sacramento Kings were buying out Jimmer Fredette’s contract, and that he was heading through waivers as a free agent. Yes, Jimmer Fredette: he who won unanimously the college awards in the 2010-11 NCAA season for being the college player of year. It was also he who made it famous for every shot behind the red line in the Mormon basketball culture to be called, “Jimmer Range.” In his senior season at BYU, he recorded 28.9 points a contest while shooting a hair under 40% from downtown.
Apparently that Jimmer didn’t get along well with Sacramento, and now is up for grabs among the various NBA teams. Part of the reason he is being let go is the fact he has only scored seven points a game after being the tenth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. And part of the reason he has underachieved in the scoring category is that he has only averaged fifteen minutes a game. All around, Jimmer was a round piece in the square puzzle that is the Kings organization. That doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t a round puzzle in the NBA that he couldn’t belong to.
In fact, a team that is trying the find a good puzzle piece is the Denver Nuggets. They only have one active point guard on their roster, Aaron Brooks, and could definitely use another one. Though Jimmer’s skill set is better suited for the shooting guard position, he was used as a point guard in Sacramento, and would be a better option than Evan Fournier, or Randy Foye. Not only because his body fits the position better, but also Fournier and Foye would benefit Denver more playing shooting guard.
Fredette would also bolster Denver’s currently mediocre-at-best shooting game. Fredette (not kidding) is shooting above 49% from three-point range this season. That number will not be sustained if he is given constant playing time, but he is clearly a remarkable shooting talent. He is also converting free throws at an 89% rate, a stifling weakness on the 27th best-ranked Denver squad.
Signing Jimmer Fredette also works out strategically for Denver. When all of their injured players return, Denver will have a roster that looks three-deep at every position, including at the point. This means they could play Jimmer at the two, using his long threat to spread the floor, which would open up lanes for Ty Lawson, and also add a threat to the drive-and-kick strategy that works so well with Lawson.
With injuries to guards Nate Robinson and Lawson, Denver can give Fredette the microphone he needs in order to get his show going. His biggest problem in Sacramento was being in a situation where they had a couple of potentially great, young players, who couldn’t share the spotlight, and he eventually fell to the side. If Jimmer received more playing time, then Marcus Thornton and Isaiah Thomas would play less. If he had the most points in a game that means DeMarcus Cousins didn’t. Eventually the bigger personalities won and Jimmer was benched at the first sign of bad play. He was never allowed the time he needed to work through mistakes, and raise to the potential his college career showed he had. If Fredette shows he has game, then next season Denver could commit to him.
Jimmer is a golden opportunity. He is the classic example of a low-risk, high-reward player, only amplified by the fact his stock is low at this moment. If Denver buys into him now, it could potentially be as rewarding as buying early stock in Apple.
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