to play praised Jimmer's play.

Look, Jimmer clearly has not forced his way onto the court yet with undeniably great play. However, it is also true that circumstances have conspired against Jimmer to a large degree.

Westphal, Jimmer's main supporter in the King's organization (and the man with the plan to actually utilize Jimmer), was fired just several games into Jimmer's rookie year (no training camp, and a shortened season).

Smart comes in with an attitude of "win now" so he can justify his job, and goes with IT who was better able to run a traditional point guard role. Smart had no plans to utilize Jimmer, and obviously Smart did not draft Jimmer. Let's also keep in mind that Smart is the guy that kept Jeremy Lin on the bench at Golden State, and even jerked Steph Curry around a lot. And, the scene at Sacramento under Smart was completely dysfunctional, with Cousins essentially calling the shots. Anyway, although Jimmer did not force Smart to play him through great play, it's also true that the Kings did NOTHING to try to develop Jimmer. I've never seen a franchise so determined to never even try to let their lottery pick play significant minutes, just to see what he can do.

OK, Smart is fired. New ownership, new management, new coach. It is determined BEFORE THE SEASON EVER STARTED that Jimmer was not in the plans. From that point on, the Kings know that Jimmer's time in Sacramento is coming to a close. So, once again, absolutely no incentive to give Jimmer many minutes at all. Jimmer, however, actually did start to play well when called upon, and he actually did earn regular minutes (although not many). Still, the rookie got the lion's share of the minutes. Jimmer in his career NEVER played as poorly as the King's rookie this year, and yet this rookie was actually allowed to play. Jimmer never got that kind of chance.

Now, Jimmer is bought out, and decides to join the Bulls. Jimmer, by all accounts, had several opportunities, but chose the Bulls. Jimmer figured he'd fit in that system, apparently. Don't know what kind of conversations Jimmer had with Thibs, but it's clear that Thibs was not going to be shaking up his rotation at all to test the waters with Jimmer. So, Jimmer sits. When Jimmer actually played, he played very well. Well enough to earn some serious praise from Thibs.

So, what's in the future for Jimmer? Well, his agent is going to have to find a team that is actually willing to commit to letting Jimmer play regular minutes. Judging from the amount of interest when Jimmer was bought out, it appears Jimmer will get that chance. Then we'll see what he does with it. It could even happen in Chicago.