Songaila signs 5-year, $23M deal with Wizards <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Washington Wizards signed free agent forward Darius Songaila to a five-year, $23 million dollar deal, Songaila's agent, Mark Bartlestein, told ESPN.com. Songaila's deal includes a player option for the fifth year of the contract. </div> Link
Yeah, I didn't know the Wizards were interested. I was hoping he was going to the West so the Bulls wouldn't have to play him that much.
Isn't he getting a little overpaid? Anyway, I think I'd much rather have Jared Jeffries for his defense, which the Wizards need more than more offense, which is what you get from Songaila.
Jared Jeffries plays SG in the Wizards rotation, this signing shouldn't effect him at all. I'm very surprised by this signing though. There were no rumors or surprises stories about the Wizards interested in him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jared Jeffries plays SG in the Wizards rotation, this signing shouldn't effect him at all. I'm very surprised by this signing though. There were no rumors or surprises stories about the Wizards interested in him.</div> No, this definately affects Jefferies. While he technically played SG in terms of running the offense, he was actually being inserted at the PF sport when he was on the court, and at other times at SF. Most of his minutes were played at PF though. I like this signing a lot, Songalia is a nice player, not much of a rebounder or defender, but offensively he can score a little, he can shoot, he can pass, and he hustles.
I didn't expect this signing to happen, but this does bring some inside scoring to the team. They are paying him a lot though, hopefully he lives out to his end of the deal and be able to resign Jared Jeffries.
Well first of all, it's supposed to be $21 million, not $23 million, and the 5th year is an option. $4.2 million per year is less than the average salary, why is that WAY overpaying? Darius Songaila is being payed a less than the average player, so he's being payed as a below average player. Also as a big man he'll naturally get more money anyways, it's not really "overpaying". Also add in the fact that the cap increased which naturaly gives him another $300,000 in compared to what he would've gotten last season, his contract is perfectly fine. He fits very well into the Wizards system, so s'all good.
If you've watched Songaila over the past two years you come away saying he's one of the better players on the floor. He's not a specialist, but does everything well. Scott Skiles wanted him back in Chicago. Skiles on several occasions early in the year marveled at a new side of Darius' game every week. He has a reputation as a scorer, but is beloved for his hustle, attitude and desire to bang down low and get tough rebounds. Nocioni had trouble getting on the floor until Darius hurt his foot. Skiles and General Managers around the league know he plays pretty good defense, too. If the Wizards didn't sign him, and Chicago couldn't because Ben Wallace sucked up all the money, Sacramento was eager to re-sign him along with at least four other teams. He was paid about 2 million a year last year and he and his agent knew with the market and Darius' passing, shooting, low turnover total, defensive ability, rebounding, love of getting dirty down low, and ability to run that he would have no trouble for a player of his caliber in getting a decent mid-level 5 year deal. Plus, he's just a great guy and teammate. 21 million over 5 years is a dream come true for this nice but tough kid from Lithuania whose father whom he worships is paralyzed from the neck down.
