Jimmer Fredette to the Spurs, If He Can't Make it There, He Can't Make it Anywhere

Jimmer Fredette’s NBA career has been a disappointment thus far, but he just received the best news since leaving BYU four years ago: the 3-point gunner signed with the San Antonio Spurs.

On three NBA teams in four years, Fredette did virtually nothing. He can’t defend at that level. He’s not a point guard. At 6-foot-2, he’s on the small side for shooting guards. These are things most people knew about Fredette coming out of BYU, but perhaps in the “New” small-ball NBA, he’ll have his best (final?) chance at success with the Spurs.

This feels like a Patriots signing in the NFL – they take chances on anyone, and it’s a great move, but if the rest of the league did it, they’d be chastised.

Fredette was selected 10th overall by Sacramento in the 2011 Draft, one spot ahead of Klay Thompson of the Warriors, and five sports ahead of new teammate Kawhi Leonard. Plenty of other talented players were taken after Fredette: Nikola Vucevic (16), Iman Shumpert (17), Tobias Harris (19), Kenneth Faried (22), Nikola Mirotic (23), Reggie Jackson (24) and Jimmy Butler (30) to name a few.

The Kings clearly drafted Fredette because they hoped he’d be a fan favorite, but their scouting department is a joke. He started seven games as a rookie, and hasn’t started one since. Fredette hit rock bottom in 50 games with New Orleans last season, making just 18 percent of his 3-pointers, a ridiculously low number for one of the most prodigious shooters in college basketball history.

But given the recent history of guards who have had offensive success in San Antonio’s system – Cory Joseph, Gary Neal, Marco Belinelli, Patty Mills – there’s no reason to think that Fredette can’t be a reasonable option off the bench for those 25 games in which Manu Ginobili needs to sit out so he’s fresh for the playoffs.