Jimmer Fredette was one of the hottest names during the NBA trading period. The Sacramento Kings were actively shopping the guard, but their asking price of a second-round draft pick was simply too high to garner any interest. Now that the deadline has come and gone, Fredette could still be out of Sacramento in the coming days.
According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sacramento Kings are in the process of finalizing a contract buyout for Fredette that will send the guard to the free agent market in the coming week. The move is not a surprise. The Kings opted to not pick up the 2014-15 option on Fredette's contract, pretty much guaranteeing he would be playing for a different team come next season. Plenty of teams had interest in him at the trading deadline, but were unwilling to give up draft picks for a player that would hit the market in the summer.
Fredette has struggled to find his place with the Kings. He was averaging 5.9 points with the team which is considered a disappointment since he put up 2,599 points at BYU, becoming college basketball's player of the year in 2011. However, despite his low numbers, Fredette will have no issue finding interest on the market.
The San Antonio Spurs could easily look his way once the guard becomes available. The Spurs are in contention to make another run through the Western Conference in the playoffs. However, injuries have hurt lately. Tony Parker is expected to miss a significant amount of time for what is being described as a "variety of maladies." With Tim Duncan also in and out of the lineup, the Spurs are in need of help and Fredette can certainly score when given the chance.
The New York Knicks are likely the next option for the guard. The Knicks are currently dealing with the recent arrest of Raymond Felton which could see the guard getting suspended for some time. The Knicks are on the edge of making the playoffs and if they can get some bodies to fillup the recent roster openings, they might be able to make something out of nothing. The team is already expected to look at Danny Granger and Ben Gordon if they became available.
Fansided.com also brings up the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder as potential options for Fredette. The guard is looked at as having a heavy amount of potential that could certainly shine in the right setting. Expect Fredette to get picked up fairly quickly once available.
