Indiana Pacers Must Keep A.J. Price All Season

Oct 29, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; (From left to right) Indiana Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh, owner Herb Simon, and president

watch a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers must find a way to keep point guard A.J. Price on the roster for the remainder of the season.

When the Indiana Pacers desperately needed to pick up a player due to all of the injuries that they have been forced to suffer through, A.J. Price was there to give them a major lift. He has powered them in a couple of games, and has been exactly what the doctor ordered for the team on the offensive side of the ball.

Price may not be a big name, but he has scored very well and has been a great all-around point guard as well. Not only has his play on-the-court been impressive, he has been huge for team chemistry on the bench and in the locker room as well. The Pacers saw just how important team chemistry is down the stretch of last season, and they are in desperate need of as much as they can get this season.

Due to the impact that Price has had both on and off the court, the Pacers need to make sure that they keep Price around for the remainder of the season.

If the Pacers do end up deciding to keep him around, they are going to have to cut another player. One player that could be let go to make room for Price on the roster is rookie big man Shayne Whittington, but the Pacers seem to like him quite a bit. Donald Sloan and Luis Scola are also players that could be let go, but it isn’t likely that the Pacers will be interested in parting ways with them.

At this point in the season, the Pacers are looking at two point guards returning from injury. Both George Hill and C.J. Watson will be able to return at some point in the future, but keeping Price on board could still be a very good decision. There aren’t many players on the roster that are capable of shooting the three-point shot or scoring the ball like Price can.

Perhaps the Pacers could move George Hill to the shooting guard position and open up some minutes for A.J. Price. Sloan has played well, but he can’t score the ball like price, and definitely doesn’t have the three-point shot that Price does.

Either way, the Pacers have to figure out how to keep him around for the remainder of the season. He is great on the court when playing and his impact on team chemistry has been noticeable as well. Whittington is a solid prospect, but the Pacers should keep Price around for the rest of the year and allow Whittington to walk. At the very least they could sign Whittington back to the roster next offseason.