Jimmer Fredette, who will soon be bought out by the Sacramento Kings, doesn’t run an offense well, and he’s too small to play shooting guard regularly – though he defends both backcourt positions poorly, anyway. There’s a reason the Kings didn’t pick up the fourth-year option on his rookie contract and are buying him out now.
But he has one definite NBA-caliber skill: 3-point shooting.
So, it makes sense two of the league’s worst outside-shooting teams want to sign him.
The Cavaliers rank 21st in the NBA in 3-point percentage (35.2), and the Bulls are 27th (34.1). Fredette won’t solve all the problems of either team, but he helps an area of need. Both would do well to sign him.
For Fredette, it seems the Bulls – who could sign him for the rest of the season without exceeding the luxury-tax line thanks to a trade made, coincidentally, with the Cavaliers – would be more appealing.
For one, Luol Deng just went from Chicago to Cleveland and has reportedly found the change disorientating due the drop in organizational quality. The Bulls are also much more likely than the Cavaliers to make the playoffs.
In the long term, maybe Tom Thibodeau could improve Fredette’s defense to the point he gets a contract next season. Mike Brown returned to Cleveland with the promise of fixing the Cavaliers’ defense, but they’ve struggled on that end for most of the season. The Bulls, on the other hand, rank second in defensive rating despite so much roster flux. Ideally, Thibodeau could provide the developmental coaching Fredette didn’t receive in Sacramento.
