Pelicans sign Jimmer Fredette, will play him against Mavericks
By Tom West
Jimmer Fredette recently left the NBA and joined the D-League, but he’s already made his comeback thanks to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jimmer Fredette has had an up-and-down NBA career, one that has seen him jump around from team to team while his performance has remained shaky at best. Most recently, he was taken with the 2nd overall pick in the NBA D-League Draft by the Westchester Knicks on October 31 after an extremely brief stint with the San Antonio Spurs. However, like most places he’s stayed in his pro career, it didn’t last long.
Scott Kushner of The Advocate has now confirmed that Fredette will be returning to the New Orleans Pelicans, and will play Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks.
Sources: #Pelicans clear hardship waiver, add Jimmer Fredette. He will play tonight vs #Mavs.
— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) November 10, 2015
The NBA’s hardship waiver has allowed the Pelicans to add Fredette in order to help them deal with multiple injuries. The wavier may occur when a team has at least four players who are injured or sick, have missed at least three games, and will continue to be in a condition that makes them unable to play (per Larry Coon).
For New Orleans, they have their starting point guard (Jrue Holiday) and their backup point guard (Norris Cole) out with injury, meaning that they’ve had to resort to Ish Smith playing 30 minutes a night. Which, for a team without a win, is hardly going to do much to carry it from the bottom of the Western Conference.
As for Fredette, though, his three point shooting isn’t exactly enough to add a win to the Pelicans’ 0-6 record either. He spent 50 games with them in 2014-15 and averaged 3.6 points in 10.2 minutes per game, while going a mere 18.8 percent from three point range. There’s a reason they let him go, and if it wasn’t for the injuries they’re dealing with, Fredette could easily still be in the D-Leauge right now.
In fairness to Jimmer, he has shot 38.1 percent from three over his career, which is essentially his only near-NBA level asset. However, as a combo guard who lacks good defense, athleticism, and the ability to make an offense run, it doesn’t look like he’ll find any greater success in New Orleans this time around.
He couldn’t have asked for a better team to take him in than the Spurs, but now that’s over, the future of Fredette is once again with a struggling team.