Jimmer Mania Hits Sacramento


Utah and its fans didn’t get their wish of drafting The Jimmer, but the Kings certainly aren’t complaining about their pick of Fredette. From the Sac Bee: “Fredette might have been the most popular player in college basketball last season, hence Jimmermania and the following that he developed nationwide. Fredette was selected 10th by Milwaukee, then traded as part of a three-team deal that sent guard Beno Udrih to Milwaukee and brought John Salmons back to the Kings. As part of the deal, the Kings relinquished their seventh pick to the Charlotte Bobcats … Fredette told reporters in New York the attention he’s received leading up to the draft is nothing new. ‘I think a lot of it just has to do with this last year in college,’ Fredette said. ‘How things exploded and the media just really took a hold of our season and myself, and it’s continuing.’ In addition to adding Fredette, the trade helped the Kings at small forward. ‘(Salmons) had long stretches where he was probably our best player … better than the ones we’ve had recently,’ said Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie. ‘And I think with Jimmer, we get one of the most exciting players in college basketball.’ Fredette averaged 28.9 points as a senior and was the consensus National Player of the Year. Fredette arguably had the best range of any shooter in the draft. Fredette, who made 39.6 percent of his three-point attempts last season, will be expected to play significant minutes as a rookie now that Udrih has gone to Milwaukee. ‘We think he’ll fit in really well with our roster,’ said Kings coach Paul Westphal of Fredette. ‘I hesitate to say until we get out there and get after it, but I think of him as a point guard. He plays the pick-and-roll really well. He’s a good passer, obviously he’s a great shooter.'”