The Dallas Mavericks Would Be Smart to Call Jimmer Fredette

Jimmer Fredette has made more believers from his time playing professionally in China. Now, as he eyes an NBA return, the Dallas Mavericks need to get on the phone.

Jimmer Fredette is a former winner of the National College Player of the Year in 2011. During his time at Brigham Young University, Jimmer worked his way up through his 4 years, until he was averaging nearly 29 points and 4.3 assists per game.

Fredette had a tough time acclimating to the NBA after being selected 10th overall to the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded shortly after to the Sacramento Kings. Jimmer spent his first 2 and a half years with the Kings before being bought out a few weeks after the best performance of his career still to this day.

Jimmer also spent time in Chicago, New Orleans, New York, and preseason time in San Antonio before he ran out of destinations in the NBA. This is when Jimmer Fredette decided to try his luck overseas, signing with the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association. He played with the team this season.

After only 1 year in the CBA, Jimmer was named CBA MVP thanks to being the leading scorer of the league at 37.6 points per game. Obviously the Chinese League is a different kind of animal than the NBA but it is no secret that there is NBA level talent in China. Fredette did not just lead the league in scoring though, he also put together a few performances to remember.

During his time in China, Jimmer played in 41 games. In those 41 games, Jimmer scored over 30 points, 34 times. He scored over 20 points in 6 of the remaining 7 games and his lowest total was 10 points in a game where he logged only 16 minutes. Did I mention that Fredette also scored 73 points in a single game this season?

Dallas Mavericks

Jimmer is a scoring machine under the right system, which gets me to my main point here. The Dallas Mavericks need to call Jimmer Fredette and his agent about coming to the Mavs. Fredette has already hinted at an NBA return coming soon, and the Mavs need to make their way onto his list of suitors.

My opening argument is this: Jimmer has never had a good NBA coach that is ready to work with him. Here is the list of coaches that Jimmer has worked with: Paul Westphal, Keith Smart, Mike Malone, Tom Thibodeau (for 8 games), Monty Williams, and Derek Fisher.

None of these coaches can even begin to compare to what Rick Carlisle is capable of and Jimmer needs the kind of guidance that he can receive in Dallas. As a role player in the league, Fredette will need to acclimate to not having the ball in his hands at all times, and the team style of play that the Mavericks use will give him that opportunity.

As we all know, the leadership in Dallas does not stop with the coaching. Players like Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, Harrison Barnes, J.J. Barea, and Devin Harris will give Jimmer something he has sorely needed but never gotten: veteran leadership.

During his time with Sacramento, the most experienced players on the team were John Salmons and Travis Outlaw, while the stars of the team were DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans. In New Orleans, it was Anthony Davis and Evans while the most experienced was Kendrick Perkins. His last season with the Knicks, he had Carmelo Anthony as his leader and Jose Calderon as well.

I rest my case.

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The Dallas Mavericks would love to fill out their bench a little bit better and taking a chance on a guy that is 28 years old and can shoot from anywhere in the gym doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all to me. Dallas would add another capable guard to the roster with a chance at getting so much more than that. Let’s make it happen, Mark.