Tweets have a way of fueling trade rumors, but George Hill’s unhappiness won’t lead him back to the Indiana Pacers.
One tweet can make you a legend. Several tweets (and several emojis) can set off one of the craziest offseason episodes in the history of NBA free agency. But George Hill’s frustrated emojis won’t lead to a reunion with the Indiana Pacers.
On Saturday night the former Indiana Pacers point guard tweeted out not one, not two, but a series of 26 ‘pouting face’ emojis.
Naturally, Twitter interpreted this as his frustration with the 7-16 Sacramento Kings.
😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
— INDIANA GEORGE HILL (@George_Hill3) December 3, 2017
Hill only played 18 minutes in Sacramento loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, finishing the game with 6 points, an assist, and a steal. Hill’s numbers are down with his second team since he left the Indiana Pacers.
Things went well with the Utah Jazz after Larry Bird traded him there. But after having one the best seasons of his career where he averaged 16.9 points and 4.2 assists in Utah, Hill now only averages 8.9 points and 2.4 assists a game with the Kings.
But back to the emojis. Any time a player sends out a tweet like that — and considering Hill’s current circumstances — it can get interpreted as trade request. He may not want to leave Sacramento, but it is clear he isn’t happy now.
While it could be anger at many things, including non-basketball ones, people love trade rumors. Naturally, this led Pacers fans to discuss the possibility of a George Hill return to Indiana.
https://twitter.com/JCSourwine/status/937175783268896769
However, there is no chance in hell this is going to happen.
The biggest problem is George Hill is on the first year of a 3-year, $57 million contract. This year he is making $20 million of that and he certainly isn’t playing up to that now. If he got back to last year’s performance then you can justify his salary, but that’s not going to happen with the Kings as he shares time with De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason. His defense still shows up, but his offense is bad enough to question if he is breaking even.
Despite all of this being a very unlikely scenario, the two biggest questions for the Pacers would be how they would do it and does this make sense for Indiana now.
Do the Pacers want to give up Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic?
Right now it is clear Darren Collison is the better fit for Indiana’s offense. Unless Hill finds the touch from last season, there is hardly any way to justify trading for him.
| Rk | Player | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Collison | 32.0 | 4.4 | 9.6 | .457 | 1.2 | 3.1 | .380 | .518 | .869 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 12.3 |
| 2 | George Hill | 25.6 | 3.2 | 7.2 | .447 | 1.0 | 2.3 | .449 | .520 | .784 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 8.9 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/4/2017.
While Collison gets more time on the floor, the only thing Hill does better is shooting 3-pointers, but he takes fewer a game. I’d expect Hill’s defense to improve if he joined the Pacers, but the best you could hope is Hill getting closer to Collison’s offensive production. Even then, Collison’s role as the distributor is part of that makes Indiana’s offense work. Collison doesn’t take shots away from Oladipo, but Hill likely would. Even if he didn’t, we’ve seen in the past how Hill as an off-ball guy isn’t an effective use of him.
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The best realistic case scenario if Hill came back is Hill breaking even in overall impact.
But why would the Kings want Collison back anyway? He played in Sacramento and they didn’t seem to make an effort to re-sign him. On top of that, the Pacers couldn’t just send Collison to Sacramento for Hill. Collison only makes $10 million, so Indiana needs to match salary.
Kevin Pritchard wouldn’t give up any young talent to get Hill, a trade likely would include Bojan Bogdanovic, who is second on the team in points now. Bojan’s $10.5 million contract makes the salaries match, but the Pacers are now giving up talent in the trade. It is unlikely the Kings would take Al Jefferson and his $10 million instead.
There are plenty of jokes to make about the Kings’ front office and ownership, but I don’t see a scenario where they take on Jefferson and a point guard they just let walk. Any other combination of players Indiana might send ends up hurting them more than helping.
Trading for George Hill is lateral move at best
I’m a huge George Hill stan. I generally assume if you thought the George Hill of the Blue Collar, Gold Swagger era wasn’t good, then you don’t know basketball beyond watching the offense.
But I’m not sure what the point would be of bringing him back.
If he already was here, that would be great. But why replace a point guard you can jettison after this season with one you might have to keep around for two more seasons and at a higher price?
Part of the reason Pritchard signed Collison and Bogdanovic to their two-year deals was for the flexibility over the next two seasons. In fact, neither contract is fully guaranteed after this season. If the Pacers want to, they can start anew this upcoming summer, clearing $20.5 million off the books.
Next: Pacers Rank: Lance, Bojan on the rise
Hill is 31 years old and has a history of injuries. I wish he was still around despite that, but with his contract, he doesn’t make sense if the Pacers plans.