Indiana Pacers Reportedly Reach 1-Year Deal with D.J. Augustin
The Indiana Pacers have found a new point guard.
According to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, the Pacers have agreed to terms with free-agent D.J. Augustin:
"Pacers have agreed to a 1 year deal with DJ Augustin, according to a source.
— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNBA) July 12, 2012"
ESPN’s Chad Ford is reporting that the deal will pay the former Charlotte Bobcat $3.5 million.
The Pacers have to be thrilled with today’s news, considering yesterday, there were multiple reports the team would have to trade Tyler Hansbrough in order to secure Augustin’s services.
But once the Bobcats signed free agent point guard Ramon Sessions, they decided to withdraw their qualifying offer to Augustin, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD. Previously, he was considered a restricted free agent.
The four-year veteran out of Texas is coming off a disappointing year. Augustin averaged 11.1 points while shooting only 38 percent from the floor in addition to dishing out 6.4 assists and grabbing 2.3 rebounds in just under 30 minutes a night for arguably the worst team in NBA history.
This comes a year after averaging 14-6-3 while shooting 41 percent.
The Pacers desperately needed another point guard after yesterday’s trade with Dallas that sent Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones to the Mavericks in a sign-and-trade for Ian Mahinmi.
Augustin will likely be the starter alongside George Hill in the Pacers' backcourt.
The 24-year-old will be expected to contribute heavily to an Indiana Pacers team looking to improve on last year’s run to the Eastern Conference semis, where they gave the eventual champion Miami Heat all they could handle before losing the series, 4-2.
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