Indiana Pacers Fit the Puzzle Pieces Together on Draft Week

Wednesday, June 22, 2:12 p.m. — Jeff Teague In, George Hill Out

It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon. Pacers fans and Twitter mouths alike were rambling about the upcoming draft, waiting for the first major move to be made.

Then, the sirens came. Everyone ran to their shelters.

A Woj bomb was falling.

Jeff Teague, a guy whose name has been associated with a possible Pacers trade for many years, and a guy whose arm dons the city in which the Indiana Pacers play basketball, is finally a member of the team. It makes sense now more than ever. With a faster-paced offense comes the necessity for a distributor — a fast guy who can dish it out to the main shooters of the team with efficiency.

George Hill was a lot of great things, but that wasn’t one of them. His value wasn’t in being able to run an offense but in things like his length and considerably strong defense, his ability to adapt and keep up with any offensive set, and his corner three ability.

Teague is almost like the inverse of Hill. You won’t see many people driving past Hill from the perimeter; this happens with Teague more often than you’d like. You will see Teague driving past many people from the perimeter; Hill isn’t quite as aggressive.

Jeff Teague vs George Hill | PointAfter

For example last season, Hill had 185 field goal attempts inside of 5 feet, which accounted for 25% of his shot selection on the year. Teague had 414 field goal attempts from the same range, accounting for about 42% of his total shots. Furthermore, only 52.8% of Hill’s buckets from that close came unassisted, while Teague was able to make the play himself a whopping 80.7% of the time. Teague finished fifth in the league in drives last season, with 11.1 a game. Hill finished 98th, with 3.7.

The Pacers haven’t had a playmaker like this in both passing and scoring since Darren Collison, meaning that this will be the first time since the Paul George era really took off that we’ll see a traditional point guard run the show.

Teague, while having many defensive faults, is quite possibly the best point guard the Pacers could’ve (feasibly) grabbed this offseason for the offense they’re trying to run. Hill’s defense will be missed, surely, but the overall offensive upside Teague brings to the team might just outweigh his defensive shortcomings. Even in basic terms, Teague’s 16-17 points and 6-7 assists per game are an obvious improvement over Hill’s 11-12 points and 3-4 assists per game.

The Pacers haven’t had a playmaker like this in both passing and scoring since Darren Collison, meaning that this will be the first time since the Paul George era really took off that we’ll see a traditional point guard run the show. With ball-handling wing duos such as George and Stephenson and George and Ellis starring over the past few years, there hasn’t been much need for such a point guard.

Now, in Year Two of the “let’s play fast” campaign, it feels like this was the correct puzzle piece to add to the team. The Pacers finished 10th in pace last season as part of their efforts to pick up the tempo — a decent improvement over their finish at 19th two years ago. But, the teams ahead of them in the top 10 almost all share the trait of having a playmaking PG. Whether it be Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas or Hate-Him-All-You-Want-But-He-Got-11-Assists-A-Game Rajon Rondo, usually having a faster pace requires having a point guard that can run the offense and create points with ease. For what it’s worth, Teague and the Hawks finished two spots above the Pacers at 8th in pace last season.

Related Story: Thank You, George Hill

Although losing a quality player like Hill isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen (for the defense especially), it felt as if it was time for him to go. Fans, fairly or not, voiced their criticisms for Hill loudly over his last few seasons. Being a part of a trade that sent eventual Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard away probably didn’t help his chances. The backcourt defense takes a hit with his loss, but the addition of Teague brings a skill set that is necessary for this offense to run at full speed.

Having a guy who can attack, direct traffic, give open looks to our star shooters, create baskets with his playmaking ability, and help revitalize what has been an ugly pick and roll situation for the Pacers in recent history is everything they need out of the point guard spot in this new era. Teague should have some fun with Paul George too, who will probably be the greatest teammate he’s had in his career.

Hill was a very solid piece. Teague just fits better in our puzzle.

Next: Thaddeus Young > Rookie