Jimmer Fredette Grabbed By Kings, But Is He Destined to Fail Without Coach's Support?
Jimmer Fredette became one of the early surprises of Thursday night's 2011 NBA Draft, when the Sacramento Kings used a three-team deal to trade down three spots and grab him tenth overall.
After all, Jimmer was seen as a mid-first round talent at best, and while he's a popular player, his shoot-first mentality and complete and utter lack of any semblance of defense made him less than appealing as a top 10 pick, given his size. But, many figured, with the right coaching staff, Fredette could be an effective sharpshooter or even a playmaking guard.
Unfortuately for Jimmer, it sounds like he's joining a club whose coaches didn't even want him there.
According to a Tweet from Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Kings coaches didn't want Jimmer because they didn't think he'd be a good fit in their offense.
Makes perfect sense to me; with three shoot-first guards already in Sacramento, in Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton, and John Salmons, the last thing they wanted was another gunner whose skills as a facilitator and playmaker for teammates have been heavily doubted. They preferred a wing like Colorado's Alec Burks, who filled a bigger need and had more upside and versatility than The Jimmer offered.
Instead, Kings ownership, spearheaded by those bastions of basketball brilliance, the Maloof brothers (wow, they can't run a casino or a basketball team!) took a more financially motivated approach: they assumed that Jimmer, as the bigger name on the board, would sell more tickets and help revive their flagging checkbooks.
Heaven forbid that the team draw fans and sell jerseys by, you know, being a good basketball team. Oh no; if that happened, how could the Maloofs move the franchise to Anaheim?
Seriously, I think I speak for NBA fans everywhere when I tell the Maloofs to stay out of the day-to-day operations of their club. They aren't Mark Cuban, and it's fairly obvious that this override of the coaching staff's opinions was based almost completely on the notion that Jimmer would sell more tickets than Burks, not the idea that Jimmer would make the team any better.
The real victim in all of this is Fredette. He has talent, but in a system like the one in Sacramento, which is already laden with shooters and needs a facilitator, he's just not a great fit. Stick him in Indiana, where they need a guard with his offensive gifts and are good enough defensively to hide his defensive shortcomings, and he could thrive.
But, without the support of the coaching staff, there's a fairly strong chance that Fredette winds up riding the bench next season, relegated to backup duty as the leader of the second-string offense.
Is he destined to be a bust? Not quite; he could find his niche and thrive in Sacramento, and there's no guarantee the coaches won't grow to value him more than they did Thursday, or he could grow into a devastating playmaker and facilitator, using his excellent court vision to deliver passes and become a more complete player. But, given the fact that the coaches don't want him there right now, his task has gotten much, much harder.
Jimmer Fredette became one of the early surprises of Thursday night's 2011 NBA Draft, when the Sacramento Kings used a three-team deal to trade down three spots and grab him tenth overall.
After all, Jimmer was seen as a mid-first round talent at best, and while he's a popular player, his shoot-first mentality and complete and utter lack of any semblance of defense made him less than appealing as a top 10 pick, given his size. But, many figured, with the right coaching staff, Fredette could be an effective sharpshooter or even a playmaking guard.
Unfortuately for Jimmer, it sounds like he's joining a club whose coaches didn't even want him there.
According to a Tweet from Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Kings coaches didn't want Jimmer because they didn't think he'd be a good fit in their offense.
Makes perfect sense to me; with three shoot-first guards already in Sacramento, in Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton, and John Salmons, the last thing they wanted was another gunner whose skills as a facilitator and playmaker for teammates have been heavily doubted. They preferred a wing like Colorado's Alec Burks, who filled a bigger need and had more upside and versatility than The Jimmer offered.
Heaven forbid that the team draw fans and sell jerseys by, you know, being a good basketball team. Oh no; if that happened, how could the Maloofs move the franchise to Anaheim?
Seriously, I think I speak for NBA fans everywhere when I tell the Maloofs to stay out of the day-to-day operations of their club. They aren't Mark Cuban, and it's fairly obvious that this override of the coaching staff's opinions was based almost completely on the notion that Jimmer would sell more tickets than Burks, not the idea that Jimmer would make the team any better.
The real victim in all of this is Fredette. He has talent, but in a system like the one in Sacramento, which is already laden with shooters and needs a facilitator, he's just not a great fit. Stick him in Indiana, where they need a guard with his offensive gifts and are good enough defensively to hide his defensive shortcomings, and he could thrive.
But, without the support of the coaching staff, there's a fairly strong chance that Fredette winds up riding the bench next season, relegated to backup duty as the leader of the second-string offense.
Is he destined to be a bust? Not quite; he could find his niche and thrive in Sacramento, and there's no guarantee the coaches won't grow to value him more than they did Thursday, or he could grow into a devastating playmaker and facilitator, using his excellent court vision to deliver passes and become a more complete player. But, given the fact that the coaches don't want him there right now, his task has gotten much, much harder.
No comments:
Post a Comment