<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. Songaila is a skilled four man with a sweet outside shot and the ability to go inside and bang. The move means that it's now very likely that the Wizards' first-round pick, Olexsiy Pecherov, will return to Europe for another season, a source close to the Wizards confirmed to ESPN.com. The moves use the up the majority of the Wizards' mid-level exception, with Songaila's deal taking up around $4 million of Washington's $5.135 million mid-level exception. </div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2522205
Sucks to see him go, but I wish him luck. I wonder how he is going to play now that he has some security with his long term deal. Not saying he wont play hard, but just wondering because this will be the first time he will have more than a 2 year deal.
As well as Songaila played for us last season I’m happy we didn’t get into a bidding war for him, and overpay him. For the Wizards it makes sense for them to offer him a 23 million dollar contract, he could see a lot of consistent playing time with them. However, during his time in Chicago (at least during the beginning), his role was undefined; he was in/out the rotation, etc. You don’t give that much money to a guy who will likely not play a big role in your overall game plan.