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Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced Wednesday that the team has signed free agent shooting guard Jodie Meeks.
“Jodie will improve our backcourt rotation and fill a need with his scoring and shooting,” Grunfeld said. “He is an eight-year veteran who has been a reliable player throughout his career, and we look forward to him bringing that stability to our bench.”
Per the Washington Post, “Meeks, who signed a deal reportedly for two years and $7 million, has not played significant playoff minutes since his 2011-12 season with the Philadelphia 76ers. Therefore, Washington’s 49-33 record and run to the Eastern Conference semifinals served as the motivation for him as a free agent.”
Meeks (6-4, 210) spent last season with the Orlando Magic and averaged 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting .409 from three-point range in 36 games (10 starts). He returned from a thumb injury to play the last 12 games of last season, averaging 8.4 points and shooting .400 (20-50) from three-point range while scoring in double figures in six of those games. The veteran scorer has a career three-point mark of .376 and has shot over .400 from long range in three of the past four seasons.
Meeks has appeared in 454 games (204 starts) and has averaged 9.8 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting .881 from the free-throw line over his eight-year career with Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit and Orlando. He has also appeared in 20 career playoff games (six starts) with the 76ers, Lakers and Pistons. His best season came in 2013-14 when he averaged a career-high 15.7 points and shot .401 from three-point range in 77 games for the Lakers.
The 29-year old Norcross, GA, native was originally selected in the second round (41st overall) by Milwaukee out of Kentucky in 2009, where he named All-SEC First Team as a junior at after leading the conference in scoring (23.7 ppg, including games of 54, 46 and 45 points) and setting the school record for three-pointers in a single season (117) and a single game (10).
