Washington Wizards sign Northwestern guard to Exhibit 10 deal
As recently announced by the Washington Wizards official X (formerly Twitter) account, they have signed Chase Audige to an Exhibit 10 contract as well as the 21st and final training camp roster spot. A move that will likely have little to no impact on the season, but still continues a wildly successful offseason.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a deal made between a franchise and an unsigned player, usually with little to no NBA experience, where they earn the right to compete for a two-way spot during training camp. These contracts do not extend past training camp putting all the pressure on the player to outperform his peers.
More often than not, Exhibit 10 contract players end up playing for the team’s G-League affiliate.
As of right now, the Wizards already need to eliminate at least one contract and that includes possibly moving Ryan Rollins to a two-way deal and moving on from a newly acquired vet. This means that unless Audige really impresses during training camp, this signing means very little.
They also have summer league standout Dejan Vasiljevic signed to the same deal making it even less likely that Audige will make the roster this season.
What can Chase Audige do that intrigues the Washington Wizards?
Chase Audige is one of those do everything guards. While he isn’t a standout player at any one aspect of the game, he is extremely versatile and can play numerous roles for a team. However, he is pretty streaky for a player of that category.
He is six-foot-four and can move the ball pretty well for a college shooting guard. He is also a decent athlete. Still, he struggles to get to the rim due to a slow first step, limiting the effectiveness of that athleticism.
While he may struggle getting past defenders off the dribble, he is one of the best off-ball players still available, something that could be a huge selling point for finding his way onto the roster.
After going being expected to go late in the second round in this year’s draft, Audige went undrafted. He then signed with the Miami Heat’s summer league team where he averaged 6.4 points, 1.4 assists, 0.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game across seven games. He also shot 47.1 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range for the Summer Heat.
All this comes after averaging 14.0 points, 2.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 36.8 percent from the floor and 32.5 percent from three in his final year with Northwestern.
He has proven that he can be an intriguing NBA prospect. However, he is already 24 years old and likely has limited room for growth.
It will be interesting to see how Chase Audige does in training camp with the Washington Wizards. But more likely than not, he will end up playing for the Capital City Go-Go this season instead.
