The former BYU Basketball star appears to have moved past the possibility of playing in the NBA.
When Jimmer Fredette left BYU Basketball fans thought and hoped that he would be the first Steph Curry (since Curry wasn’t quite Curry yet). Jimmer had changed the college game and had set the college basketball world on fire.
When Jimmer got to the NBA with the Sacramento Kings, he was given such a short end of a stick that he was left with only a bunch of splinters. After two and a half years with the Kings Fredette was shipped off to Chicago for a short eight game stint before playing for the Pelicans, Knicks and Spurs. He also spent some time in the G-League and played well there.
Ultimately, Jimmer was unable to find a home in the NBA and found a home in China where he became the “Lonely Dragon” and dominated for three years. During those three seasons Jimmer was the face of the league despite being on a below average team. When asked about his intentions Jimmer was not shy to say that he wanted to make it back to the NBA. And after three seasons in China he did.
In 2018 Jimmer played eight games for the Phoenix Suns and was for the most part underwhelming. Despite fans and analysts knowing Jimmer’s potential and shooting threat, his bad performance in Phoenix led to being a free agent and ultimately signing with Greek Club Panathinaikos. Unfortunately, along with leaving country again, many also started to realize that maybe the dream was dead and began to focus less on Jimmer overseas.
At that moment it appeared the Jimmer’s NBA career was all but gone. Jimmer played for the Greek Club for one season before once again signing with the Shanghai Sharks.
Then last week it appeared that Jimmer may have one final hurrah in the NBA Summer League with the Denver Nuggets. Although the odds seemed long of Jimmer making an NBA team after the Summer League, the possibility of making it was there. However, that tiny bit of hope diminished when a “last minute issue” came up and Jimmer will not play for the Summer League.
So is this officially the end of Jimmer in the NBA? Has the final door closed? Afterall, Jimmer is now 32 years old and it appears that at least for this upcoming season he will not be playing for the NBA. Currently there are only 29 players who are older than 33 years old so the odds are not in Jimmer’s favor.
I’m not ready to shut the door quite yet though. I still think there is one very specific purpose the Jimmer could serve in the NBA and admittingly it is a longshot. I believe that if there is a team who lacks a late game clutch shooter either from the three or free throw line they could look at Jimmer, particularly if it is right before the playoffs similar to what the Bucks did with Elijah Bryant.
What do you think? Is Jimmer’s NBA career over? Let us know in the comments!