The Bulls announced today the team has signed guard Jimmer Fredette for the remainder of the season. The Octagon Sports client‘s $2.4MM contract had cleared waivers making him a free agent. Exact financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“We are very excited to add a player like Jimmer to our roster,” said Bulls GM Gar Forman. “We’ve followed him closely throughout his collegiate and professional career, and believe he’ll be the type of player that will fit in with our group and be an asset to the team.”
Chicago was the favorite to add Fredette following his buyout agreement with the Kings on Thursday. The third-year guard is averaging a career low in minutes and points this year, but is shooting .493 from three and having his most efficient offensive season in limited playing time.
The Bulls — an elite defensive team — are hoping the 10th pick from the 2011 draft can add some firepower to their offense, which is ranked 27th in both three-point makes and percentage this season. Fredette has averaged 7 PPG and 1.5 APG in two-plus years with the Kings, where some believe he was miscast as a point guard and buried behind other developing talent that Sacramento accumulated in the backcourt.
While other notable buyout players Danny Granger, Glen Davis, and Caron Butler have signed up with contenders in the Western Conference over the last week, Fredette chose an Eastern Conference playoff team that could give him an opportunity to shine before he becomes a free agent in the summer.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Sam Amick of USA Today first reported the agreement. Shams Charania of RealGM reported that the deal covers the rest of the season and doesn’t include any options (Twitter link).
JIMMER!
He is exactly what I expected when Jimmer got into the NBA, all shot no guard. Now he has one last chance, yea, last chance. See, there are plenty of kids that can shot, that can be learned, but the effort on the defensive end is key to the NBA and Jimmer does nothing there. So he has to be so good at scoring for the Bulls to get someone to invest in him next year or we will be seeing him in China playing.