If things go sideways for the Utah Jazz, why not go get Jimmer Fredette?

The Utah Jazz hung out with BYU legend Jimmer Fredette and it got us thinking…

It was reported over the weekend that current 3×3 star Jimmer Fredette was hanging out with members of the Utah Jazz on Friday night, taking in the BYU game. Apparently, Fredette was seen hanging out with John Collins, Omer Yurtseven, Luka Samanic, and Micah Potter. It was a big day for the BYU football squad, taking down a usually game Cincinnati squad allowing BYU to advance to 4-1 on the season.

Fredette, a star at BYU during his collegiate days, was back in town watching the contest and took time to talk about his current goals professionally. Fredette left the NBA for the Chinese Basketball Association, where he was allowed to play more loose and free, and put up insane splits. His efficiency was fantastic and he was a driving force for a team that valued his abilities.

Something he wasn’t given the benefit of in the NBA Speaking to the Desert News late last month, Fredette made it clear that right now the goal is the the 3×3 league and the Olympics, saying;

"I’m good. I’ve been there and done that. If teams want to pick me up, great, but that’s not the goal."

While telling the Olympics website;

"I have been obsessed with the Olympics ever since I was 3, 4 years old. I mean, I watch every Olympics and I watch every event. I’m locked in when the Olympics are on. From day until night, it’s always on at least one TV. So, to have an opportunity to be a part of that would be a dream come true for me literally."

And while it may seem like a joke to even think of Fredette these days, he’s currently ranked 15th in the 3×3 league. And while he’s not known for his success in the NBA, he’s compiled one heck of a checklist of accolades.

He’s a four-time All-Star (3x CBA, 1x D-League), he has three MVPs to his name (D-League All-Star Game MVP, CBA MVP, 3×3 World Tours Masters MVP), and he’s a winner, winning the Greek League Championship in 2020, as well as the 3×3 AmeriCup Champion in 2022 and 3×3 World Cup Team of tournaments in 2023.

No one should convince themselves that at 34 years old, Fredette is going to come into the NBA and become Steve Nash or Steph Curry, but should the team struggle at finding a point guard that can play for them, or should they make a few huge trades and find themselves in need of a backup guard, or and its the worst case scenario, the Jazz just suck; why not call up Fredette?

If for nothing else, it’ll boost attendance some, and maybe give Fredette one final chance to play in the NBA.

That said, seeing how well he’s performing in every league around the world the NBA has had some people thinking; what went wrong? Was he just that bad as a rookie or did he get forced into a situation where his talents weren’t being best utilized? He had a 50/40/90 season in the EuroLeague, that’s nothing to shake a stick at. It takes real talent to achieve that.

Fredette isn’t someone the Jazz should look if they need just one more player to make a run at the NBA Championship, but should the team find themselves shallow at the guard spot and the squad doesn’t want to exhaust their resources, why not?