NBA Draft 2011: Why the New York Knicks Shouldn't Draft Jimmer Fredette

A star rose out of nowhere on the college scene this year.  He led the nation in scoring at an unbelievable 28.9 points per game clip and brought BYU into the spotlight.  This player is none other than Jimmer Fredette.

Fredette had a tremendous year for BYU and quickly made himself a household name as the phrase "a Jimmer Fredette shot" is now used by many to describe a shot taken from several feet behind the three point line.  His success did not go unnoticed as many scouts—and fans alike—speculated that he could become a lottery pick.

Current draft projections have him dropping to between 15-20, which would give the Knicks the opportunity to pick him.  Fredette, being a sharpshooter and a New York native, seems like a perfect fit for the Knicks at first glance.  However, upon further evaluation, all he does is slightly help our strengths and make our weaknesses even more severe.

For starters, Jimmer is not very athletic, which he needs at the professional level to create his own shot, especially in Coach D'Antoni's system.  This would cause a plethora of problems for him on both ends of the floor.  

On offense, he would likely have to play point guard due to his size, which would have players much quicker than him suffocating his shot and chasing him all over the floor.  This would make it increasingly difficult for Fredette to perform his speciality, namely, shooting the ball.

Also, on defense, his lack of athleticism would hurt him even more.  Again, just as on offense, his size would likely relegate him to defending the opposing team's point guard.  As mentioned before, he simply does not posses the quickness to stay in front of the young point guards in the NBA.  Could you imagine Jimmer guarding Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook?  I don't think it would be too pretty.

Lastly, Fredette does not aid the Knicks where they are weak.  The specific areas where they need help are rebounding, interior defense, and, to a lesser extent, perimeter defense.  Being a guard makes it virtually impossible for him to help us in the first two areas, but he would actually hurt us as well by degrading our perimeter defense.

Overall, I do not see much merit in the infatuation with Knicks fans over Jimmer Fredette.  He seems to me like J.J. Redick 2.0, but with less quickness and agility.  I'm not in any way bashing Fredette; he was an amazing college player and has a huge amount of talent.  I just believe that he does not have the proper skill set to succeed in the NBA.

What do you think?  Should the Knicks pick him?  Let me know by leaving a comment below.