Wizards Sign Guard

Price, above, adds depth to the Wizards backcourt. (Photo: nba.com)

Today, the Washington Wizards signed former Indiana Pacers guard A.J. Price. Price is expected to back-up star point guard John Wall.

In three seasons with the Pacers, Price averaged six points and two assists per game. As you can see, this is more about depth than production. Price, like I said earlier, will back-up mainly John Wall. Price will only see the floor if Wall gets hurt or is too tired to even walk up and down the court.

This can come as a surprise since the Wizards also have Shelvin Mack on the roster. Mack, in my opinion, would better serve the team coming off the bench to replace a tired Bradley Beal or Jordan Crawford. Mack saw very little time last season, but is a good three point shooter so he is a good player to have on your bench.

Price, brings some experience to the point guard position. Wizards President Ernie Grunfield used that as a reason for bringing him to Washington D.C.

"A.J. is an experienced and dependable player," said Grunfield. "Adding him will help bring depth to our backcourt rotation."

It isn't at all surprising that the Wizards signed Price not long after officially declaring that second round draft pick Tomas Satoransky will stay in Europe to play with his Euro-League team.

Also, I would like to point out that the Wizards could have avoided having to make this signing. If they wouldn't have wasted a draft pick on a player that wasn't ready for the NBA, then they wouldn't need to go out and spend the money to get one. Satoransky is a guard that lacks the necessary tools that he will need to be successful in the NBA. The Wizards could have drafted a more NBA ready player instead of him.

Regardless of the draft, I don't think the Wizards really needed to sign Price. While he does add some sort of depth to the Wizards backcourt, the Wizards already had four guards on the roster. I just feel that they could have spent their money elsewhere to pick up maybe a forward or center.

Either way, A.J. Price brings his six points per game average to the Wizards. Terms of deal have not been released. I, however, would be surprised if Price was signed to a deal longer than two years.


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Source: NBA.com