Spurs waive Jimmer Fredette

[I_Never Lied]

Curry is a better shooter, has a quicker release, a much better handle, and has better court vision. Not really surprising.

Curry is also a better athlete. He's not Westbrook or Rose, but he's a grade better than Fredette athletically. And while not a great defender, definitely better than Fredette's whose def. was ghastly awful.

While they were both viewed as below average athletes coming out of college I agree that Curry is clearly the superior athlete. I just find it interesting that Fredette can't find a place in the league anywhere. I mean you have to imagine even if Curry were a worse athlete he would still have a place in the league as a bench scorer.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/stephen-curry

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jimmer-fredette

Being able to handle the ball (which Jimmer can't do) is extremely important for small PG's. Jimmer is listed at 6-2 but he looks like he's 6'1. Curry is legit 6'3 and doesn't have short arms like Jimmer

[UcanUwill]

Yeah, a 6'2 SG is not very appealing. Guy is few inches away from having a place in this league, I mean Rudez made it, and the guy is even worse all around player than Jimmer, hes just taller,
Anyway, Jimmer should go to Europe, I think he could be a very good player there.

[Johnlac1]

Curry is a better shooter, has a quicker release, a much better handle, and has better court vision. Not really surprising.

Curry is also a better athlete. He's not Westbrook or Rose, but he's a grade better than Fredette athletically. And while not a great defender, definitely better than Fredette's whose def. was ghastly awful.

While they were both viewed as below average athletes coming out of college I agree that Curry is clearly the superior athlete. I just find it interesting that Fredette can't find a place in the league anywhere. I mean you have to imagine even if Curry were a worse athlete he would still have a place in the league as a bench scorer.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/stephen-curry

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jimmer-fredette

I remember watching Fredette in college. He does have an excellent NBA level skill....shooting the ball from three point distance on the dead run with excellent accuracy. He also is a better passer than people give him credit for. But I never thought he had the ability to be a star in the NBA like he was in college. A good player off the bench to score quick pts.
But I noticed one thing about his college days...he played no def. and when he tried to guard other players, they went around him like the pros did. In short, he was a terrible onball defender even in college. Watching his rookie year with the Kings it was apparent that was easily his biggest lack. A number of times he came into games and did what I thought he was capable of....score a bunch of pts. making multiple threes and helping his team.
But too often his opponent would see Fredette and simply head to the basket for an easy bucket. You've got to make a lot of three to compensate for that kind of bad defense. And even if some teammate picked up his man, that left the teammate's man open for an easy shot.
Fredette also was not as good a ballhandler as he should have been.
What he should have done was (1) work on def. quickness drills so he was quite as big a pigeon and (2) work on his dribbling so he could play point more.
He's actually not the worst athlete I've seen play in the league, but he's absolutely one of the worst onball def. players I've ever seen.
That horrible def. is what kept his a** nailed to the bench most of the time and ultimately probably what caused him to be out of he league.

[JesusHCoxMd]

Who?
I remember he was hyped as a great shooter in the 2011 draft, but I guess it didn't work out in the end.

[Winglish]

So either Keith "not very" Smart or Bobby Jackson doesn't like Jimmer and decided to anonymously stab him in the back? Nice.

Watch Jimmer go through the Spurs 100 recently. His lowest score was 82 and he hit 89 out of 100 three pointers on the move:

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/9/28/9391773/video-jimmer-fredette-shoots-84-100-on-spurs-100-drill?_ga=1.189281963.1432726407.1445785297

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=37Jr-ugVlG4

Jimmer will be fine. Yes, his defense is bad, just a little better statistically than Enes Kanter. But there is a team out there that needs a shooter, even if it's in Europe or China.

[Manute Lol]

Jimmer has a sort of poor man's Tebow aura about him at this point. I don't imagine he's going to get another shot at the NBA.

[Cycklops]

How many 6'2" guys who couldn't play point guard have been successful in the NBA? It's hard to think of any. Like, really hard.

[tha_rock220]

So either Keith "not very" Smart or Bobby Jackson doesn't like Jimmer and decided to anonymously stab him in the back? Nice.

Watch Jimmer go through the Spurs 100 recently. His lowest score was 82 and he hit 89 out of 100 three pointers on the move:

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/9/28/9391773/video-jimmer-fredette-shoots-84-100-on-spurs-100-drill?_ga=1.189281963.1432726407.1445785297

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=37Jr-ugVlG4

Jimmer will be fine. Yes, his defense is bad, just a little better statistically than Enes Kanter. But there is a team out there that needs a shooter, even if it's in Europe or China.

He's still too slow on his release off the catch. I knew Jimmer wouldn't be a star in the NBA, but I thought he could have carved out a role like JJ Reddick did. After seeing that vid I'm not surprised he couldn't.

[Frank Dux]

I never understood the Curry comparison. I watched them both while they were still in college, and Curry looked like a complete player. He was short and skinny for a 2 guard, but moved around the court like a super star. I remember laughing my *** off watching Kahn pass on him, he was going to be at worst, a dynamic super sixth man. I can't say I predicted he would become an MVP, or the best point guard in the game, but it was very evident that he was a special player.

Jimmer didn't have nearly the skill, speed, or fluidity. It was pretty obvious even while he was racking up points in college that he was at best an Eddie House type of player at the next level. No coach in the NBA would allow him to jack up the shots he was allowed to take in college. You don't find success at the NBA level letting a slow, short, unathletic 2 guard play hero ball.

The Kings got caught up in the "next Curry" hype, and didn't do their homework.

[Frank Dux]

So either Keith "not very" Smart or Bobby Jackson doesn't like Jimmer and decided to anonymously stab him in the back? Nice.

Watch Jimmer go through the Spurs 100 recently. His lowest score was 82 and he hit 89 out of 100 three pointers on the move:

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/9/28/9391773/video-jimmer-fredette-shoots-84-100-on-spurs-100-drill?_ga=1.189281963.1432726407.1445785297

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=37Jr-ugVlG4

Jimmer will be fine. Yes, his defense is bad, just a little better statistically than Enes Kanter. But there is a team out there that needs a shooter, even if it's in Europe or China.

He's still too slow on his release off the catch. I knew Jimmer wouldn't be a star in the NBA, but I thought he could have carved out a role like JJ Reddick did. After seeing that vid I'm not surprised he couldn't.

That youtube video highlights the exact issue. That hitch in his shot is terrible, but that's what made him successful in college. I remember his thing was to shoot long pull up threes in transition. That hitch actually made his shot stronger, as it gave his shot an extra push off of his running momentum, and since he jacked up shots way behind the arc defenders wouldn't usually defend him close enough for that slow release to be a problem. At the NBA level, he was expected to play a traditional role as more of a 3 point specialist, and defenders close out a lot quicker in the NBA.

[Chuck Everett]

How many 6'2" guys who couldn't play point guard have been successful in the NBA? It's hard to think of any. Like, really hard.

Ben Gordon. 11 year NBA career. But here's the thing. Fredette was billed as a shooter and couldn't make shots in the NBA. So his one supposed NBA skill he sucked at. Cest la vie.

[Tinseltown]

Jimmer has a sort of poor man's Tebow aura about him at this point. I don't imagine he's going to get another shot at the NBA.

Poor man's Tebow is right

Tebow took over a 1-4 Broncos team and led them to a playoff win. He is absolutely good enough to play in the NFL and isn't getting a chance because of his celebrity. Jimmer just sucks

[Johnlac1]

How many 6'2" guys who couldn't play point guard have been successful in the NBA? It's hard to think of any. Like, really hard.

Ben Gordon. 11 year NBA career. But here's the thing. Fredette was billed as a shooter and couldn't make shots in the NBA. So his one supposed NBA skill he sucked at. Cest la vie.

Well he actually shot over 40% from three ball territory his second year and close 50% his third year. It was only last year his shot fell off, and a lot of that might have been due to scarce minutes.
There's plenty of guys in the league not more athletic, but they can either handle the ball better (which Fredette should have worked on), or they can play better defense. And since Fredette might have been the worst onball defender in the league, the latter posed a huge problem.

[Cappy_Smurf]

I'm kinda surprised that the Jazz haven't signed him. Sign him for vet min and sell a ton of jersies, then let him go later on if he isn't useful.

Profit.

I guess you must have missed the games where Jimmer fans filled the ESA just so they could chant to put in Jimmer. Not too hard to imagine why Jazz management would want to avoid that situation.

[RIPskaterdude]

Kings lottery picks since Cousins

Bismack Biyombo - traded on draft day for Fredette - subsequently bought out
Thomas Robinson - traded away in his rookie season
Ben Mclemore
Nik Stauskas - Traded after rookie season
Willie Cauley-stein

Sweet baby Jesus!

I would have loved to see who they would have drafted if they had the #1 pick in each of those years.

They would have drafted Wiggins last year

[HotTubMike]

Jimmer has a sort of poor man's Tebow aura about him at this point. I don't imagine he's going to get another shot at the NBA.

Poor man's Tebow is right

Tebow took over a 1-4 Broncos team and led them to a playoff win. He is absolutely good enough to play in the NFL and isn't getting a chance because of his celebrity. Jimmer just sucks

Tim?

[dc]

Couple things about Jimmer I noticed:

1. Everyone compares his size/athleticism to Curry, and why couldn't he succeed when Curry did. Curry is probably about an average athlete by NBA standards, but Jimmer is well below this. Another thing is Curry is definitely 1-2 inches taller with longer arms. Shrink Curry to the size of Jimmer and he's going to see a lot of his shotmaking disappear.

2. Jimmer's defense was absolutely awful. I mean dreadful. Guy looks like a middle schooler on the same floor with grown men, but especially on the defensive side. The lasting image I saw of Jimmer last year was during a regular season game between the Hornets and Warriors. 32 year old Leandro Barbosa subbed in for Curry while Jimmer was on the floor, with Jimmer "guarding" Barbosa. After Barbosa scored on Jimmer a couple times, the Pelicans started instantly sending over double and triple teams as if he were Michael Jordan. It didn't matter what part of the floor Barbosa caught the ball on. Instant doubles/triples came over because they knew how inept Jimmer was defensively.

A guy who needs constant help from teammates guarding an opponents' 32 year old, 3rd string combo guard is a terrible defensive player, a complete liability and someone who is going to have a hard time staying on the floor. The guy would be absolutely picked apart in a playoff series. He's unplayable for this reason.

First their were complaints that Jimmer didn't have the right coach, that every coach Jimmer had played for previously have all been fired. Well now he just spent an entire training camp with one of the best coaches the game has ever seen; a coach who has resurrected guys who were on their way out of the league like Marco Bellineli and Boris Diaw and gets the most out of the role players he takes on. After an entire training camp, Pop clearly saw that he couldn't do get anymore out of Jimmer than previous coaches he's had. He saw what kind of liability he was up close during practice. They opted to just cut Jimmer and just eat the $500K in guaranteed money. He just got beat out by a 36 year old Rasual Butler for crying out loud.

We're all out of excuses for the guy.

[Mylie10]

What I find crazy is that him and Stephen Curry had almost identical college stats and the same knocks against both of them coming out. (too small, not explosive, below average nba athlete) yet one is the MVP and one is out of the league.

They weren't even comparable imo.....for those paying close attention you could see that Curry had an elite level of passing and court vision. He was also able to score in a myriad of ways...not just bombs away shooting.

The fact that the quote saying Jimmer thinks everyone's stupid provides a little insight into why Jimmer hasn't worked out. It might not be a valid statement, but based on what has happened in his career so far, it seems to have some validity.

[og15]

Curry is a better shooter, has a quicker release, a much better handle, and has better court vision. Not really surprising.

Curry is also a better athlete. He's not Westbrook or Rose, but he's a grade better than Fredette athletically. And while not a great defender, definitely better than Fredette's whose def. was ghastly awful.

While they were both viewed as below average athletes coming out of college I agree that Curry is clearly the superior athlete. I just find it interesting that Fredette can't find a place in the league anywhere. I mean you have to imagine even if Curry were a worse athlete he would still have a place in the league as a bench scorer.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/stephen-curry

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jimmer-fredette

Curry also has elite handles. If Fredette had elite handles as a PG with all the same skillset, his story would be a bit different

[StocktonShorts]

How many 6'2" guys who couldn't play point guard have been successful in the NBA? It's hard to think of any. Like, really hard.

Allen Iverson is the closest I can come up with, because he often played shooting guard but he could and did play point guard. In fact his assist numbers are quite good given how many shots he also put up.

Joe Dumars is another that comes to mind, but I just looked and he's listed at 6'3". And he also could play some point.