Pablo Prigioni
Grade: B-
Jose Salviati: Pablo Prigioni’s signing seemed to be a bit of an afterthought for the Clippers. The team already had its photo shoot with their big name acquisitions (Branden Dawson, DeAndre Jordan returning, Austin Rivers, Josh Smith, Cole Aldrich, Wesley Johnson, and Pierce) a few weeks before they decided they needed a point guard. It stands to reason that the signing of the undrafted player who was 38 years old at the time did not send shockwaves throughout the Association.
Even some Clippers fans were unimpressed.
The Argentinian was coming off a year where he averaged three points, 2.2 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 17 minutes of play. Nothing at all spectacular, but then again you don’t need your backup point guard to necessarily be spectacular, you need him to be dependable.
In Prigioni, who was the third string player behind Paul and Rivers, the Clippers got a point guard who was dependable. Very dependable.
Prigioni is the type of player that is a pest on defense and precise on offense. For the Clippers, he had a career-high eight steals in one game (within 15 minutes!) and 13 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in another game where he logged 41 minutes of playing time! Did I mention he was 38 -years-old at the time? I know a few 38-year-olds that can’t walk for 41 minutes.
The signing of Prigioni was a solid one that yielded more bang-for-buck than most of the other more heralded acquisitions, even though his production and shooting wore off as the season went on.
Next: The Legacy Rivers