Sacramento Kings: How Good Will Jimmer Fredette Be in the NBA?
Many fans are asking how good Jimmer Fredette will be on the professional level. Fredette was an exceptional college player, but will his college skills translate into success in the NBA?
Growing up as a Duke Blue Devils fan, I loved the game of one guy: JJ Redick. As a Raptors fan, I wanted Bryan Colangelo to draft Redick with the No.1 pick back in '06. I was upset when I heard the news that the Dinos drafted Andrea Bargnani instead.
A few years went by and I was glad that the Raptors chose Andrea rather than Redick. Redick had an extremely successful college career, but never found much success in the NBA.
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Fredette reminds me a lot of Redick. Both are lethal shooters, both lack athleticism, both are sub-par defenders and both have decent ball handling skills.
There is a good reason why there were nine GMs that passed on Fredette: He probably isn’t going to be anything special in the league. If Fredette does turn out to be disappointing, the Kings will not have lost much, since finding an elite player with the No. 10 pick is rare. However, if Fredette does excel in the NBA, like he did in college, the Sacramento Kings will look like geniuses for pulling the draft day trade.
In the best of cases, I can see Jimmer comparable to Jason Terry: A deadly bench player with great range.
Realistically speaking, I predict that Jimmer will post stats comparable to Redick. That does not imply that I think he “sucks”, as Redick is a very useful player that can provide some sparks off the bench from time to time. However, it is obvious that having a career similar to Redick is far below what people expected.
In the worst case scenario, I see Fredette being like an Eddie House type of player; a player that knocks down the three-pointer when it’s needed, but very inconsistently.
I don’t believe that Fredette will be a total bench-warmer in the league, like Brian Cardinal or Scalabrine, but it is unrealistic to expect that Jimmer will become a top player in the league one day, given his capabilities.
