Never has the NBA been more focused on shooting than it is now.
So why is Jimmer Fredette, a proven shooter, having to prove he belongs?
The answers for why some stick in the NBA and some don’t are seldom easy. Some are downright maddening to the player who believes he belongs. Regardless, here Fredette is, the sharpshooter without a team for which to launch all of those 3-pointers.
He aims to change that.
“There’s 30 teams watching, not just the Denver Nuggets,” said Fredette, who is on the Nuggets’ summer league team. “There are lots of other teams. You never know what person, what eye you’ve got to catch. You just go out there play your game and have fun.”
Fredette desperately wants to get back to having fun on the court. It is five years since height of Jimmermania, which swept the nation during his national player-of-the-year season with BYU in 2010-11. Fredette doesn’t talk about recapturing those days, just of clearing the slate, making a roster and mattering to the team that signs him.
To that end, he’s off to a good start with a few productive practices at Nuggets minicamp.
Fredette has never played for the Nuggets, but he is familiar with the coaches. He played 41 games for Nuggets coach Michael Malone while with Sacramento in 2013-14. Micah Nori, the Nuggets’ summer league coach, was also on that staff.
“The one thing that Jimmer seems to have grasped is the fact that: ‘Do what you do well,’ ” Nori said. “You’re one of the best shooters thatap around, get your shot, don’t try to make plays too much off of the dribble, don’t try to do too many other things. Just do what you do, and do it well, because you do have an NBA skill. As we all know, when you can shoot it, there’s a spot for you.”
Fredette, who played in just six games with two teams last season, has a laundry list of things he feels he needs to prove.
“Just show I can still play, go out there and play consistently, shoot the ball, score the basketball, be able to fight defensively and just show them that I’m still here and can provide something for a team,” he said.
He has been living in Denver and training at the D1 Sports Training complex in the offseason.
“Nick Graham is great over there at D1. Chauncey (Billups) is over there,” Fredette said. “They really helped me progress in my game, and they are there for anything that I need. I’m appreciative of them and definitely would recommend it for anyone who wants to go over there.”
But what he hopes benefits him most is experience.
Headed into his sixth professional season, he knows more about himself, about his game and about the NBA. The early lumps taken serve as lessons to grow from.
“The game has definitely slowed down for me,” he said. “The first couple of years guys are big, athletic, the best players in the world. So itap a little bit of a learning curve for a lot of guys, myself included. But I feel like the game has really slowed down for me. I know when I can get my shot off, where I can get my shot off, different times. Being able to do things like that are really important in this league.”
And, hopefully, earning that spot on a roster.
“I can’t really predict whatap going on or whatap happening,” Fredette said. “Itap just about going out there controlling what you can control, work as hard as I can and hopefully to get another opportunity. You just got to keep your head down and keep shooting the basketball and hopefully a great opportunity will come from it.”
