Good news this morning, as the Washington Wizards announced they’ve signed Juan Dixon, the greatest Terp to ever wear the uniform. Welcome home, Juan!
The one-year, $1.03 million deal (a.k.a., the absolute minimum an NBA veteran can make) comes after Dixon, a Baltimore native, was initially drafted by the Wizards, then had stints in Toronto, Portland, and Detroit. If the Wizards hadn’t signed him, he was probably on his way out of the league.
The move is unquestionably designed to put some extra Terps hindquarters in Verizon Center seats this season — it’s a move Susan O’Malley would have been proud of (although that’s not necessarily a compliment). But the move isn’t just cheap cosmetics. With Gilbert Arenas out until God knows when, this gives the Wiz some instant scoring off the bench from the guard position. So he’s undersized. So what? You bring him off the bench, he hits two threes, he swings the momentum, he sits back down. He’s Vinny “The Microwave” Johnson. Who doesn’t need a guy like that?
Juan and his wife are heading back to D.C.
But in any case, I’m just happy to see Juan still in an NBA uniform, and for the hometown team no less. It’s good to have him back.
(Top photo from the Washington Post)
Juan de la Dixon baby, yeah! It’s time to finally assemble the Washington Terpz. Now we just need to get Lonny Baxter out of jail and in a uniform and trade for Chris Wilcox and Steve Blake and the team is back.
i’m happy to hear dixon is still in the league. i’ll admit, i was downright shocked to see steve blake still in the league during last year’s playoffs. i’m all for re-assembling the team in DC, but where oh where have you gone byron mouton?
Blake’s a huge fan favorite in Portland…they love him there. So he’ll probably be a Blazer for a long time, which isn’t too bad considering the Oden/Roy nucleus they’ve got.
I heard Mike Grinnon is cold-calling people to get them to buy insurance. So at least he’ll be easy to track down.
Like Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson and frozen taquitos, Juan de la Dixon heats-up quick.