Jimmer Fredette to play in TBT with hopes of NBA return

Jimmer Fredette, the former BYU star and first-round NBA draft pick, will compete in this year's edition of The Basketball Tournament with one goal in mind -- earn another spot in the NBA.

"I would always love to get another chance in the NBA," Fredette told ESPN.com. "I've gotten better in China and improved every year. ... You hope somebody takes notice."

The Basketball Tournament is a $2 million winner-take-all event that will air on ESPN this summer.

Fredette, 29, said he'll honor his contract and play another year in the Chinese Basketball Association, where the 6-foot-2 guard is a star, before pursuing another opportunity in the NBA. The No. 10 pick in the 2011 NBA draft, Fredette averaged 6.0 points per game in five seasons with Sacramento, New Orleans, Chicago and New York.

He said his time in China has helped him mature as a player. The competition in the TBT, he said, will help him prove it.

This year's TBT will feature more than 50 players with NBA experience and a handful of players who competed in the NBA during the 2017-18 season.

That competition, Fredette said, is the reason he's joining Team Fredette, which he coached last year as a player.

"It's a great talent pool," he said. "Obviously, it's the real deal with a $2 million prize."

What started as an event on ESPN3 with a $500,000 pot for the winning team has blossomed into a nationally televised tournament that features elite talent competing for a seven-figure sum. Sixteen players who participated in last year's TBT signed NBA contracts, per TBT founder Jonathan Mugar.

In all, 72 teams will compete for the $2 million prize.

Overseas Elite, a team composed of players who've excelled in international leagues, has won the past three tournaments and $5 million. In all, 68 former NBA players and hundreds of current pros from other leagues played in TBT last year. Former NBA standouts Matt Barnes and Eddy Curry will compete in this year's event.