Sports Illustrated Has George Hill Ahead of Jeff Teague in Player Rankings

Though it is almost too close to call, Sports Illustrated’s latest rankings have former Indiana Pacers Point Guard George Hill above current bandleader Jeff Teague.

Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird made his choice quite clear this summer: He thinks Jeff Teague is better than George Hill. A few smart writers at Sports Illustrated disagree, ranking Teague ahead of Hill in their recently released Top 100 NBA Players of 2017 list.

Rob Mahoney summed up Hill’s ranking of 56th — which was a massive jump from his 80th-place finish the prior year. The scribe praised the former Hometown Hero’s biggest positives — defense and shooting — as being highly valuable in today’s game.

"Only 12 players in the league last season finished with a higher three-point percentage than Hill. Among them, only two (Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson) have any claim to being a superior defender. That makes Hill a top option within the 3-and-D mold."

The news wasn’t pretty for Teague, who plummeted from 41st in the 2016 rankings to 57th now. Here is Ben Golliver noting some reasons for the fall.

"Teague (15.7 PPG, 5.9 APG) was in a battle for minutes (and future dollars) with back-up Dennis Schroder, his overall efficiency and production were off last season, the Hawks took a major step back in the standings, and the team’s offense wasn’t nearly as potent as it was during their dream 2014-15 run to the East finals."

Of course, being the overall better player in a vacuum is less important than fit.

For one, nobody plays basketball inside a vacuum. There isn’t nearly enough room and it would be way too dusty.

Even more importantly, even SI’s writers would admit that one position — George Hill barely edged out Jeff Teage — doesn’t make much difference. Having the right guy leading your team and playing beside Paul George is what matters most in practical terms.

Teague definitely is a better point guard for a team that wants to score a lot and run the break. He does a few things well — driving to the hoop, forcing the defense to react — and far exceeds Hill’s abilities in these areas.

George Hill is more of an all-around heady contributor capable of playing high-level defense and filling in any gaps you have in the back court. He can be ideal in many situations (and some may argue is a better player to pair with Monta Ellis).

There are obvious question marks about Teague and Ellis playing together. Neither shoots all that well, both like having the ball, both penetrate, both are small, neither plays much defense.

Still, Bird wants a new style and is sick of watching bad offense. Teague will definitely add a few feet to the scoring potential of this roster immediately.

If it works, everyone will agree with Bird.

If not, Pacers fans might look back at this ranking and realize that Sports Illustrated got this one right.