Jimmer's best, last chance may come with San Antonio


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SALT LAKE CITY — Five years into an underwhelming professional career, Jimmer Fredette has finally landed in what seems like a great position.

The San Antonio Spurs, known making solid players out of castoffs, are widely considered to rank among the best-run franchises in all of sports. Fredette fits the San Antonio mold perfectly, having bounced around the league since leaving BYU in 2011.

Now all Fredette has to do is make the team.

"It's 100 percent about the right place at the right time," said Jonathan Tavernari, Fredette's former college teammate and a professional player in Europe.

Fredette was the ultimate star at BYU, by far the best the program had seen since Danny Ainge played there 30 years earlier. He was virtually a one-man show as a senior, dominating the ball and given the green light to shoot any time he wanted.

Unfortunately, his NBA career has been the exact opposite. Fredette has never received consistent minutes and, therefore, rarely touches the basketball.

"Jimmer needs to have the ball in his hands," Tavernari said." I'm not saying Jimmer should be a starter in the NBA and play 35 minutes a game. I'm saying that is unbelievable nobody has given him 20 minutes a game to play the point guard."

Tavernari thinks in the right system Fredette could be similar to Nate Robinson, a small guard who provided scoring off the bench. The 5-foot-9 Robinson has played in the NBA on seven teams since 2005 and has a career scoring average of 11 points a game.

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But Fredette doesn't possess near the athleticism of Robinson, who is a three-time winner of the NBA dunk contest during All-Star weekend. Playing in 50 of the New Orleans Pelicans' 82 games last season, Fredette averaged 3.6 points and 1.2 assists.

"People want Jimmer to catch and shoot because Jimmer makes a bunch of shots," Tavernari said. "Jimmer is not a catch-and-shoot guy."

Tavernari even goes so far as to compare the college careers of Fredette and Stephen Curry, who was a relative unknown at Davidson before playing well in one NCAA Tournament. But that comparison is a stretch now, given Curry's rise to superstardom as the reigning NBA MVP and the best player on the champion Golden State Warriors.

Many view this opportunity with the Spurs as Fredette's last chance to make a mark in the NBA. Given coach Gregg Popovich's reputation for getting the most out of marginal talent, the line of thinking is if Fredette can't make it San Antonio then he can't make it anywhere.

While that reasoning has merit, Fredette would still have several years to make money in Europe. Even if the Spurs cut him late in October – Fredette has a partially guaranteed contract — he'd likely have enough star power to land a lucrative European deal.

"Jimmer would have an opportunity to play in Europe in a good situation starting out from where he's coming from," said former Utah State star Spencer Nelson, who retired last spring after playing 10 years overseas. "If he were not to make the Spurs I think there are quite a few teams that would try to make space for him in Europe."

Even in Europe though, Nelson said, Fredette would not dominate the basketball like he did in college. The level of talent has risen substantially in the top European leagues in recent years, said Nelson, who understands Fredette's desire to remain in the NBA.

"If he's going to have a chance at succeeding San Antonio is as good a place as any," Nelson said.

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