Indiana Pacers Sign A.J. Price
With the Indiana Pacers severely shorthanded at the point guard position (and pretty much everywhere else on the roster), it looks like Larry Bird will turn to a familiar face to provide a little relief. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Pacers have signed former second round draft pick A.J. Price to provide some aid in the backcourt.
Price was originally taken by the Pacers with the 52nd pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and averaged 7.3 points and 1.9 assists in 15.4 minutes per game. He spent three seasons in Indiana before signing with the Washington Wizards in 2012. He spent one season there, averaging 7.7 points and 3.6 assists per game — both career highs.
Last season, Price’s production dropped to all-time lows with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he averaged just 1.6 points in 3.5 minutes per game. He spent the preseason playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they waived him on Nov. 1.
Returning to Indiana, Price will immediately step in as the Pacers’ backup point guard behind Donald Sloan. Starting point guard George Hill’s left knee bruise is expected to sideline him until December while backup point guard C.J. Watson has been dealing with a foot injury for over a month. With Watson still wearing a walking boot and Hill’s return still weeks away, Sloan has been holding things down by himself at the point guard position.
Sloan has done well enough for himself, averaging 15.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game as the starter. However, it’s been a classic case of “decent player putting up nice numbers on a losing team,” since the Pacers are 1-4 and Sloan is only shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from three-point range.
Price’s arrival will give Sloan (36 minutes per game) a bit of a breather, and it’ll at least stop the bleeding until Watson or Hill are ready to return.