Gordon Monson: I know the Jazz are going to suck, but why not add Jimmer?

Let's be honest here; the Jazz are going to be terrible this upcoming season. Now the scale on how bad it will be is yet to be seen, but the seven game losing streak in the preseason gives a good outlook on just how gawd-awfully shittastic this team will be. Yet, ol' Gordon Monson has a great plan to help jump start the Jazz. Bring in Utah's version of the Great White Hope, Jimmer Freddette.   

Here’s an idea that either will make your day or make you sick: The Jazz should trade for Jimmer Fredette.

No matter what is written here, no matter what argument is laid down, many already have made up their minds on the matter. Jimmer and his game have had — and still have — a real dividing effect on basketball fans around here. But I’ve talked with a few NBA player-personnel people, and they seemed to agree that there’s a place for Fredette in the league. 

Utah is that place.

I've heard this argument before for another very popular player that has a suspect talent set in his league. I forget who that was...

Oh yeah...

Seriously if you take that last blurb and replace Jimmer with Tebow, NBA with NFL, and Utah with Jacksonville, you have the exact same story. A popular college athlete who's only real chance in the league is the same geographical area he went to college. 

The reasoning goes like this: Fredette can score, especially from deep. Even in the dysfunctional blob that was the Kings last season, Jimmer averaged 18 points per 36 minutes. He hit 41 percent of his 3-point shots. And he did that under a confused coach who jerked him around like a flounder on a hook. Even on nights when Fredette got minutes in the second quarter and lit it up, he strangely vanished for the remainder of the game, buried on the bench of a bad team that played bad team basketball led by a bad coach.

The issues with Jimmer are not with his offensive production; actually that's his only real talent. Fredette's issues come from his defense, or lack thereof. He's like the French Army in 1940. While he can score 18 points in 36 minutes, he can also give up 30.

Fredette has had a -0.2 and a -0.1 in Defensive Win Share respectively in his first two seasons in the NBA. To put that in perspective, Randy Foye had a DWS of 0.9 while also possessing a Offensive Win Share of 2.8 compared to Jimmer's 1.1. Same position, body build, and relatively the same amount of playing time in the last two seasons. That's what this boils down to. Jimmer would be a massive downgrade from Randy Foye in almost every category, especially on defense.

So, Gordon, you were saying?

That coach is gone now, but the Kings are crowded at the guard position, so finding minutes for Fredette, enough for him to make a difference, might be difficult. The other night, Jimmer got a preseason start and he went for 23 points, dusting 9 of 15 shots, 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and totaling five assists. For those who picture the guard doing the ridiculous things he did in college, dominating the ball and averaging 30 points a night, forget about that under this scenario. Fredette isn’t the answer to all the Jazz’s problems. 

He’s just the answer to one. 

He can shoot.

 So what you're saying is that all we would be getting is a serviceable offensive asset that plays pretty good in the preseason and beyond the arc. Meh, we've already had a Kyle Korver.

Although he has a high baller I.Q., he doesn’t have a great handle. Jimmer can play some point guard, a spot at which the Jazz are lacking after the injury to Trey Burke, and he could help them in that regard. But his versatility as a combo-guard would be of particular use for a young club with young bigs who need help from somebody — anybody — who can provide a valuable service for Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors in their offensive games.

I know he can't help in the one real area that the Jazz desperately need help in, since he's not a really a good point guard, but he'd really help the team, you guys. This young club needs someone who is... also young...

Create space.
That’s what Fredette can do. He can flush from 3, opening room for Favors and Kanter to do what they do down low, to develop their men-at-work moves in the post.

If the Jazz were concerned about that, they would have resigned Foye. Hell, they have about the same 3PT%.

There will be times this season when the Jazz, as presently constituted, will shoot the ball from distance as though they’re heaving sofas and coffee tables into the back of a moving van. It will get ugly. We’ve already seen that in the preseason. Maybe Brandon Rush will help once he’s healthy. Beyond the scored points, hitting bombs is so important because it — the threat of it — creates so many other positives at the offensive end.

Yeah, but signing a kid who can't guard the other team from going down the court and throwing up their own bombs seems a bit counterproductive.

Jimmer remains a defensive liability. That’s an issue, the same way it is with a lot of other scorers, such as Steph Curry at Golden State. But defense, on the whole, won’t be the Jazz’s problem this season. When Favors was on the court a year ago, the Jazz gave up significantly fewer points than when he was on the bench. Help defense will be stressed more than it ever has been around here — with more bodies capable of and willing to erase the mistakes of others now playing more minutes. 

Jimmer remains a defensive liability? That's like saying Aaron Hernandez has a bit of an attitude problem.

Although, it is true that shooters can be a defensive liability, let's compare Curry to Fredette.

An average of 36 minutes of playing time, Curry leads Fredette in defensive rebounds 4.1 to 1.8,  steals 1.7 to 1.0, and blocks 0.2 to 0.1. Curry also has a DWS of 2.8 from last season, a bit higher than Jimmer's -0.1. Not to mention that Curry has a defensive rating of 107 to Jimmer's 115. That's how many points are allowed per 100 possessions.

Curry is not a good defender, but Jimmer is a TERRIBLE defender with almost no improvement from his first two years.

Also, putting the weight on Favors to save the defense is going to do wonders for this team. It's not like the Jazz have ever had a problem with perimeter defense.

Which is to say, the Jazz could take advantage of Fredette’s strengths without getting killed by his weaknesses — in a moderate role, not a starring one. He could help them, not lead them to glory. He could also draw fans into a building in a year where that may be a bigger deal than it typically is. The Jazz are going to lose — a lot — while they develop their young talent. That’s all part of the plan on their way to a difference-making draft pick in the high lottery. Utilizing, even in a reduced role, the presence of a guard who captivated the country his senior year at BYU and pulled all those Jimmerheads into the seats at the Marriott Center, is a bonus that makes too much sense for the Jazz to ignore.

This is the only real reason to bring in Jimmer. To help the Miller family's bottom line. The Jazz are going to be terrible this next season, no question about it; but what would you give up to gain Jimmer? Dennis Lindsey has done his damnedest to stockpile draft picks to either trade for an already established player before the next draft or to lay the foundation for some great basketball teams in the future. Why throw a wrench in the machine for a player who can't even be bothered to put his hand up on defense.

Jimmer isn't even worth a 1st or 2nd Round draft pick. I'm sure there are kids in the D-League who can shoot already and also learn to play serviceable defense faster than Jimmer.

Better for them to bump and skid with players fans want to watch than with players they don’t. If Fredette can help the Jazz with their competitive business and their show business, what’s the downside?

Messing with a rebuilding process that doesn't have one-dimensional guard in the teams's future for one and maybe wasting a draft pick that the Jazz could use from someone who actually plays defense? 

There’s only one. It falls into the hands of Ty Corbin, who would have to manage some fans’ unrealistic expectations for Jimmer and his playing time with the minutes the guard actually should play. Balanced against the positives, that negative seems minimal. 

There is one other group out there: those who can’t stand Fredette because they’re still gathering themselves from the mania that surrounded him in college. If used properly, though, the Jazz and Jimmer could soothe many of those critics and make the situation a win-win, even as the Jazz lose a little less and make a little more (money) than they would otherwise.

Oh, Jimmer-Mania... You're so unhinged that you're almost kind of charming.