Does Jimmer Freddete have the skills to become the new face of the kings franchise?

[rainmaker]

No he won't be the face of the franchise. He will be popular, but once the Kings really progress and get back to making the playoffs a few years running, it will be the play on the court and leadership abilities of the guys which will determine the face of the franchise. Once the ball goes up, most people don't care about fan hype off the court, it's winning and make plays which gets the headlines and makes the highlights.

It will also depend on how guys mature, and how the team grows/gels in the next 3-4 years. Honestly, if I had to bet, and going with my gut feeling, I'd say Cousins will be the face of the franchise. Reke as well, but I see Cousins getting more attention, and more publicity. Part of that is I think Cousins has such incredible talent for his size, he could end up becoming one of the 2 or 3 most dominant bigs in the league. That would get a lot of attention, along with his physical playing style.

But also his personality, despite all the criticism, he's really a funny, personable, talkative guy off the court. I think he'll be pretty marketable down the road, as long as he keeps his head straight. As he matures, I also see him being the guy on the court, and in the huddle, keeping everyone in line. I actually think he has a personality similar to KG's, and as he matures and learns how he can control it, I could see him becoming the emotional leader of the team, like KG has where ever he's been.

 

[Kingster]

The title says it.

I don't even know what "new face of the Kings' franchise" means. Does it mean that the Maloofs will have his face on billboards, ala Cousins and Tyreke? If so, I don't know and don't care. If it means he's going to be the best player on the Kings, I highly doubt it.

I don't think it's doing Jimmer a favor to have all this hype. It's set up for a huge fan let-down when reality hits. I also think having no legit veteran ballhandler isn't doing him a favor either. If the Kings don't get one, I think then they are forced to play Jimmer more than they ordinarily would, and the big Jimmer bubble could get popped.

 

[Hallama]

Just a thought on how traditionally, the leading college scorers haven't fared well in the pro's; you also have to consider Kobe, LeBron, and all the other high schoolers never even had a chance to lead the NCAA in scoring. There might be a different perception if some of those guys led the NCAA in scoring, or close to it.

I get it though, Jimmer has a lot to prove, and historically, it doesn't bode well for him.

 

[Emma]

I have decided to view Jimmer as awesome! I hope he doesn't make me look silly (not that I actually care about looking silly ). As far as his skills translating, I think he will be fine. Defenses won't be focusing so hard on him, he won't be zeroed in on so hard with Reke, Thornton, and Cousins out there to keep defenders honest. Even if he is, as long as he remembers to pass, others shall pay.

 

[JB_kings]

If you follow his comments, he gets it and says the right things. His path in college was to be the scorer to carry his team. He knows the path to success at the NBA level is to be the facilitator on offense and not the scoring focus. He gets that he has to be more of a Steve Nash type player. I think he'll be just fine as he adjusts in that. On defense is where he has the most to prove.

 

[Kingsguy881]

The key is going to be his ability to do things OTHER than score. Because yes, many college scorers can go on and score in the NBA...if some team wants to win 10 games on the year just throwing the ball to an undersized (by NBA standards) chucker guard and letting him play Iverson like he did in college. Size/inability to compete with the larger men out on the court around him in ways other than chucking has probably doomed more Steve Alfords, Dajuan Wagners and Eddie Houses than any other. The combo guard 1/2 college chucker has always been a huge source of busts. Guys who are SG at heart, but in the NBA simply have to be PGs. Now that does not have to be Jimmer's fate. And here at least, realistic or not, he should be clinging to those Stephen Curry comparisons They don't all fail. But its a huge source of it. Its always that not big enough/lacks a position/ability to defend/rebound/pass etc. stuff that kills the college scorers. If Jimmer wants to go down as more than a footnote, he's got to show he can excel at things other than scoring, because everybody in the NBA can score. In particular at Jimmer's size the ability to create shots for others is going to be key. Otherwise one day he could end up checking Quincy Douby in the Chinese League.

I actually do have an odd sort of confidence Jimmer can be a decent player. It ws pretty amazing when another poster raised the name of Matt Maloney, whom I went to school with and checked in a few pick up games (make that TRIED to check) because it was exactly the comparison that came to mind for me. Something about the way they both moved. But franchise player? I mean, name the NBA franchise player who has evr resembled Jimmer at all.

That would have been me.

It seems people keep forgetting about the impact the last kid Petrie drafted who led college in scoring and didn't play any defense. The thing about it is this time he drafted someone who has good court vision to go with the amazing shooting skills. I think we can find a use for this one being that unlike Mr. Western Carolina, Jimmer can create his own offense and doesn't need someone to set him up in order for him to be effective.

Just throwing that out there....