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Indiana Pacers Expected To Sign A.J. Price

By Evan Massey

Jan 12, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard A.J. Price (22) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph (left) during the second half at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 104-86. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard A.J. Price (22) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph (left) during the second half at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 104-86. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Indiana Pacers are expected to sign veteran point guard A.J. Price to be their backup with the NBA‘s hardship exception.

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The Indiana Pacers were expected to sign free agent point guard Gal Mekel today, but there appears to be an issue that will prevent that from happening. Marc Stein of ESPN reported that there was a Visa issue that was being worked on by the Pacers to get Mekel signed today, but it doesn’t appear that will happen. Instead, there are reports surfacing that Indiana will be signing former guard A.J. Price.

Price played with the Pacers back during the 2009-10 season all the way through the 2011-12 season. He has shown the ability to score and shoot the basketball, and is very familiar with the system that the Pacers currently run. It will likely be a deal that keeps Price in the rotation until either George Hill or C.J. Watson is able to return from injury, and will certainly be an upgrade over Solomon Hill at the backup point guard position.

Last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Price ended up playing in 28 regular season games. He didn’t do much, and ended up signing with the Cavaliers this past offseason who ended up releasing him to sign Will Cherry.

During his tenure with the Washington Wizards two years ago, Price posted averages of 7.7 points and 3.6 assists. He shot just 39.0 percent from the floor overall and 35.0 percent from behind the three-point arc.

All of that being said, this isn’t the type of impact move that the Pacers were hoping to make but it will still be a nice addition. They needed a backup point guard as quickly as possible, and their hardship exception will allow them to sign Price without having to release anyone from the roster. Expect the deal to get done in the near future, and for Price to join the team tomorrow night against the Boston Celtics.

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