The Chicago Bulls have made major roster changes this offseason, but signing free agent point guard Jimmer Fredette would also make sense
Entering the league back in 2011, Jimmer Fredette was viewed as a player who can make an impact from behind the three-point line. During his senior season at Brigham Young University, Fredette averaged 28.9 points while shooting 39 percent form beyond the arc.
His impressive ability to put the ball in the basket, particularly from long range, earned him a trip to the NBA lottery, where he was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to the Sacramento Kings.
Fredette has not been able to translate his college success into the NBA, where he has played for four different teams in five seasons, including spending a majority of the 2015-16 campaign in the Developmental League (D-League) with the Westchester Knicks.
As a result of playing in the D-League, Fredette appeared in just six games last season with the New Orleans Pelicans and New York Knicks, where he averaged 1.5 points on 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Prior to last season, in what was Fredette’s last long-term gig, he appeared in 50 games with the Pelicans and failed to do what he does best: hit the long ball. In 50 games during the 2014-15 season, the 27-year-old averaged 3.6 points per game on a lackluster 38 percent from the field and 18 percent from three.
Despite bouncing around the NBA for the better part of the last five seasons, Fredette should be given a second chance from a ball club whom he played for during the 2013-14 season: the Chicago Bulls.
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Fredette appeared in eight games with Chicago, where he averaged four points per game. Although he has yet to make an impact in the NBA thus far, Fredette could turn his career around with the Bulls.
It is not a secret that a teams ability to hit the three-pointer is a direct translation their success. The Bulls have brought in players such as Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade this offseason, putting them in dire need of a long range threat in the backcourt.
Rondo, a 10-year veteran and former NBA champion, has never been able to hit the three-pointer, averaging an appalling 28 percent from three during his career. Wade, whom they signed to a two-year deal worth $47 million, has seen a decline in his shooting numbers in the last few seasons. During the 2015-16 season, Wade shot a dismal 15 percent from beyond the arc, and he eventually took the long ball out of his arsenal.
Fredette could be an option for the Bulls moving forward. Although he hasn’t seen success in the NBA, he put up impressive numbers in the D-League last season, where he averaged 21.1 points 5.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He also shot the ball exceptionally well, 45 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point territory.
Bringing in Fredette would shore up the Bull’s ability to shoot the three in the backcourt. He will not be asked to do too much, just come off the bench in short spurts and knock down the occasional three-pointer.
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The Chicago Bulls are in major need of three-point shooting and Jimmer Fredette needs a home in the NBA. He had a year to boost his confidence in the D-League, and is now ready for another shot in the NBA.
Why not the Bulls?