Jimmer Fredette: Why the Sacramento Kings Were Foolish to Gamble on Fredette

The Sacramento Kings are a struggling team to start the 2012 season. While on paper they have some young talent, it's not amounting to a whole heck of a lot on the floor.

They may have also made a big mistake by drafting Jimmer Fredette.

Sure, Fredette was the most intriguing player coming into the draft. Sure, he lit up opposing college teams while at BYU. But the Kings are a rebuilding franchise—a rebuilding franchise that can't afford to miss with a top-10 pick.

Already with a decent young backcourt in Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton, and with a quality young center in DeMarcus Cousins in place, Sacramento had a chance to add another piece to what could be a quality young team.

Instead, they gambled on Fredette.

While it's far too early to call the BYU star a bust, it looks like the Kings rolled the dice and may have crapped out.

Fredette has offered up next to nothing in the form of production for the 4-10 Kings so far, and he hasn't scored above six points in the past three games. In addition, he only received 15 minutes of playing time from head coach Keith Smart in Sacramento's latest loss to Minnesota.

He's not a real good facilitator when playing the point and is too small to guard 2's in the NBA.

What he can do is score, though, and he has outstanding range on his jumper. At least, he did at the collegiate level.

This isn't college, though, and if Fredette can't score consistently at this level, then he really offers up no value in other areas.

He got a pair of starts while Thornton was injured and didn't play well, going a combined 5-of-17 with only 17 points.

Fredette is averaging a mere 7.6 points per game, but what's disturbing is his meager .345 field-goal percentage and his .283 three-point field-goal percentage.

Those numbers need to turn around quickly. If they don't, it will look more and more like the Kings gambled on Fredette and lost.