Jimmer Fantasy Bball Prediction

While this year's rookie class is being criticized for it's lack of depth, at least one rookie is projected to make a contribution in his rookie year. Last year only three rookies from the 2010 draft class (Wall, Cousins, Fields) ranked among the top 150 players in fantasy basketball.

Courtesy of Rotoworld.com

Jimmer Fredette: He lands in a place where he will be encouraged to perform for both basketball and business reasons, and with Beno Udrih heading out of town he has a decent chance of running the point. Tyreke Evans could run the point and is the leader in the clubhouse until it's stated otherwise – but the Kings have given subtle hints about wanting to get Tyreke off the ball throughout all of last year.

The reason is obvious – Evans lacks the will or vision to distribute the ball. Besides, he can be nearly as effective off the ball, where he, Marcus Thornton, and John Salmons can take turns attacking in better rhythm.

So while we'll need to watch how the Kings choose to deploy Jimmer, if I have to draft today, I could see burning a pick on him around Round 8-10 for his ability to hit threes, score, and dish the ball like a poor man's Manu Ginobili. Yes, there's a chance that he won't live up to the hype, but we'll know if his minutes will be limited early in the process. If there are no red flags, his floor will be 28 mpg in a sixth man's role by New Year's Eve and his ceiling will be the starting job with a full load running the point in a high octane offense. If your fantasy team can't sustain what I expect to be a below-average FG% or his non-existent blocks, then knocking a round off of this much-too-early prediction makes sense.