June 22, 2011 — Last year the Knicks, Nets, Celtics and Thunder all declined to give Jimmer Fredette a guarantee that they would take him in the late first round or early first round of the NBA draft. Did those teams make a good decision?
It's too early to tell because some of the players selected by those teams in the late first round and early second round might still turn out to be OK, but so far it appears that all these teams made by big mistake by not giving a guarantee to Jimmer.
It all turned out perfectly for Fredette, of course, as he continued to develop his skills, won a slew of player of the year awards, scored more points in a single season than any player in the previous 20 years, and so on.
These are the guys who got the nod over Jimmer last year. All were selected by the teams mentioned above with picks ranging from No. 16 to No. 45. Some were traded to other teams.
- Eric Bledsoe (No. 18)
- Avery Bradley (No. 19)
- Craig Brackins (No. 21)
- Quincy Pondexter (No. 26)
- Jordan Crawford (No. 27)
- Tibor Pleiss (No. 31)
- Andy Rautins (No. 38)
- Landry Fields (No. 39)
Interesting, Landry Fields, the last of these players selected last season, is probably the only of these players who today would be picked ahead of Jimmer in this year's draft with Jordan Crawford another possibility.
Nobody knows until tomorrow evening, but Jimmer will probably be chosen no earlier than No. 3 and no later than No. 18 in the 2011 draft.
It remains to be seen whether Jimmer will turn out to be better than his detractors think. But put me on record that he will have an impact on his team, even as a rookie, and will have a long and productive career, barring injury. If he goes No. 18, I predict that someday about 15 or 16 teams will wish they had not overlooked Fredette.
