Like a lot of college basketball superstars, Jimmer Fredette is finding it hard to reach anything remotely close to that kind of success in the NBA, and after two years with the Sacramento Kings, it isn’t surprising to see the franchise try and shop him around, hoping to see someone willing to take that trade.
Fredette averaged 7.2 points per game last season for the Kings, seeing his playing time drop by 4.6 minutes. The only real improvement was his three-point shooting ability, hitting 41.7% from beyond the arc, but no one was surprised to see Fredette be so successful in that department.
If it’s up to him, he’s going to continue and be a part of the team: Hopefully, I’ll be a big part of this organization next season. You never know what their vision is exactly, but that’s why I’m here. I’m able to talk with them, meet with them and see what their vision is.
The arrival of Greivis Vasquez from the New Orleans Pelicans doesn’t bode well for the 6’2 guard who started his NBA career as a point guard but played a lot of shooting guard last season, obviously struggling on the defensive end in that spot as well. This puts Fredette as the third-tier point guard on the team, behind Vasquez and Isiah Thomas, despite Mike Malone promising some kind of clean slate for any player.
On the other hand, Tyreke Evans is gone, which might mean more minutes for Fredette as a shooting guard.
He’s due to make $2.4 million this season, and the Kings have a team option worth $3.1 million next year on him, that at the moment is most likely to be declined. There’s been plenty of talk about the Utah Jazz connection, which is an obvious choice after his BYU career, but there hasn’t been anything substantial between the teams.
In any case, unless Fredette significantly improves many aspects of his game that don’t involve his long range shooting, he’ll either be released or traded before the deadline to another team hoping to clear a little bit of cap space on someone who is slowly turning out to be the expected bust many predicted he’d be.