Indiana Pacers: Jimmer Fredette Should Be a Target

The Indiana Pacers were an impressive basketball team at the start of the regular season this past season, but they were unable to keep it up and ended up losing to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals once again. One of the biggest issues that the Pacers had was a lack of scoring off the bench. There are a few options out there on the free agent market, and one of those potential players is Jimmer Fredette.

Fredette hasn’t had too much success in the NBA yet, but he does have the potential to become a very good scorer and especially a knock-down 3-point shooter. He has yet to receive consistent playing time, and that might very well be the only reason that he hasn’t proven himself to this point. The Pacers would be able to offer him some minutes in the back-court off the bench, and he could very well become an important piece for them.

It is certainly a reach to say that Fredette would come in and put up double figure scoring each and every night, but he would stretch the floor at the very least. The Pacers didn’t have any dead-eye three-point shooters last season, and there won’t be many on the free agent market that are affordable this offseason. Due to Fredette’s inconsistent career, he would be a fairly cheap sign that would make a lot of sense for Indiana.

Larry Bird showed interest in acquiring Fredette from the Kings last season prior to the NBA Draft, so there is interest in bringing him to Indiana. He would fit well with the system that the Pacers run, and he doesn’t need the basketball in his hands to be successful. His role with the Pacers would be to shoot the basketball and score off the bench when defenses give him looks.

He played in 49 regular season games last season split between the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls, and averaged just 5.6 points and 1.3 assists. During his first two seasons, he averaged 7.6 and 7.2 points respectively, and showed the potential to become a fairly consistent scorer. Throughout his three NBA seasons, he has shot the 3-point shot at 40.1 percent, which proves just how lethal he can be from behind the arc.

Overall, the Pacers would be making a very smart decision by giving Fredette a chance. He wouldn’t cost too much money, and he could very well help out the teams attempts to overcome the Heat. His three-point shooting and scoring ability would make sense for the Pacers to bring in, and with Bird having some interest in him previously it could very well happen.

Evan Massey is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com.