With the NBA season set to begin in less than a week teams are starting to cut their rosters down to the maximum number they are allowed which is 15. The San Antonio Spurs are expected to start that process very soon and in a very surprising move they will reportedly be cutting Jimmer Fredette, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
It is also being reported that the Spurs will cut Deshaun Thomas, a former second round pick and Youssou Ndoye, an undrafted free agent. Fredette is the biggest surprise here though as he was given guaranteed money in the contract he signed with the Spurs this offseason. By cutting Fredette the Spurs will have to eat the more than $500,000 they guaranteed him.
With Fredette on his way out it would seem like pretty good news for Rasual Butler who was a training camp invitee on a non-guaranteed deal. Butler has been a solid NBA player for a long time and the Spurs have been impressed with him this offseason so they have clearly decided that he brings more to the table than Fredette.
The three cuts by the Spurs bring their roster down to 16 players meaning they have one more cut to make. With Butler seemingly a lock to make the team at this point, the decision will come down to Jonathon Simmons or Reggie Williams. Simmons has impressed the Spurs a lot lately and Williams was said to be in a competition with Fredette when camp opened up so it will be interesting what direction they decide to go with that final spot.
Fredette is a former tenth overall pick back in the 2011 NBA Draft but has never really been able to find his footing in the NBA. In his four seasons Fredette has averaged 6.1 points per game while shooting 38 percent from three but he hasn't made the necessary improvements in other areas. It will be interesting to see if any other teams give Fredette another chance or if this could spell the end of the 26 year olds NBA career. Fredette came into this offseason as a clear favorite to make the roster but didn't so that can't be a good sign for his NBA future.
