With Jose Calderon and John Lucas III out of the picture, the backup point guard spot to Kyle Lowry is wide open. Masai Ujiri signed DJ Augustin a one-year deal this offseason to potentially fill that backup role. Augustin was a highly-touted prospect and was the ninth overall draft pick in the '08 draft that included a talented group of point guards: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, George Hill and Jerryd Bayless.
The 25-year old has had a mediocre NBA-career, averaging 9.6 ppg 4.0 apg in about 24 minutes playing time, having played fours seasons with the struggling Charlotte Bobcats and last season with the Indiana Pacers. He's a quick pass-first point guard who's familiar with the backup point guard role, having played behind George Hill in Indiana. He'll look to do the same with the Raptors and provide a boost of energy with the Raptors second unit.
As a scorer, he can hit the three ball if left wide open but just as easily penetrate the lane for the basket. He's not a consistent scorer though, and there will be games where he may not be able to get it going in his limited minutes.
Augustin does bring some starting point guard experience, as he was the starter for the Charlotte Bobcats for multiple seasons. So he'll be able to step in, in case Lowry goes down at any point during the season.
His career is heading in the direction of a backup point guard role and he can prove that he will be an asset to this Raptors bench this season. It won't come easy though, he has Dwight Buycks to compete with for that spot so he'll have to put on a good showing to Coach Casey in both training camp and in the preseason.
He's got a familiar face joining him in Toronto. He'll be joining his former Pacers teammate, Tyler Hansbrough who also signed with the Raptors in the offseason and both players bring playoff experience from their run to the Eastern Conference finals in last season's playoffs.
(Photo via NBA.com)
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