The Phoenix Suns recently signed Jimmer Fredette. The purple and orange chapter of his story gets off to an interesting beginning.
After spending the last 3 years in China on the Shanghai Sharks, Jimmer Fredette is now a member of the Phoenix Suns. He was basically on the level of being a basketball god overseas so the fact that he chose the Suns over any other potential offers is something to smile about.
The NBA section of his basketball story so far has not been too good of a read, as he’s averaged just 6 points per game and bounced around the league ending up out of it. However, he’s back now and he has a legitimate chance to change that for good. He’s 30-years-old now but he’s a shooter and doesn’t rely on athleticism so he still has plenty of years left in him if he can stick.
His return comes just at the right time, for several reasons.
One is the most obvious in that it’s March Madness season and very fitting for a college basketball legend to be signed at this time. Another is how his Phoenix tenure starts off, in terms of what teams the Suns will face now that he’s active.
The first game will be against the Sacramento Kings tonight. This is the team on which his NBA career began, as he spent the first two seasons and a portion of his third in Sac-Town. He averaged 7 points per game on 40.2% shooting from downtown in 171 games.
His second game will be facing the Utah Jazz in Utah. What else is in Utah? Brigham Young University aka BYU, the team he was on in college when he was legend. That crowd is going to be so loud when he steps onto the court, even as an opponent. He actually gets to play against Utah twice before the end of the season.
The game after that second match, he plays the New Orleans Pelicans. This is another team that he played for in his first run in the association. He only made 9 of 49 treys (18.4%) against them so it would be great if he could light it up from deep in that contest.
So, four of the last 9 games of the season are against teams that he has ties to. That’s nearly half of the final run. How nice would it be if he could play well against those franchises and show what he’s capable of?
Jimmer is back in the NBA, a Phoenix Sun and gets to start it off right in this final stretch. Let’s hope he can show what he’s made of, how much he’s developed and has his cannon ready.