Darren Collison and George Hill carry years of Pacers history in their matchup

Both Darren Collison and George Hill were Indiana Pacers castaways at one point. The two will face off on Sunday, but with Collison back in a Pacers uniform.

The past, current, and possible future of the Indiana Pacers point guard position are on display Sunday. With Jeff Teague being the only meaningful stop gap since 2010, when Darren Collison takes on the Cleveland Cavaliers and George Hill, nearly a decade of the Pacers history (and their short-term future) will take on each other.

The two players’ early careers were defined by each other. Hill pushed out Collison in 2012, but circumstances brought Collison back to Indiana, and fate made Hill his opponent in the first round.

Funnily enough, both played for the Sacramento Kings in their time away from the Pacers. The Kings declined to re-sign Collison last summer, opening the door for a payday for Hill. The money still spent, but Hill clearly wasn’t happy with his situation. Panic in Cleveland allowed the Kings to send out a then-massively underperforming Hill, and the Cavaliers got a 3-and-D point guard.

The NBA is a small universe, but there is something fitting about the two once again vying to prove they’re better than their opponent.

Hill sends Collison packing

In 2010, Indiana hoped Collison was their point guard of the future when they sent out Troy Murphy in a four-team trade. Earl Watson and T.J. Ford weren’t the answer in the previous season and the Pacers hoped Collison’s rookie season averages of 12.6 points and 5.7 assists would transfer to Indiana.

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Collison’s points went up in 2011 as he started in 84 games for the Pacers, but with his field goal percentage and assists dropping, his defense became more and more of a liability.

Enter George Hill.

The notorious Hill-Kawhi trade brought the Indiana native to his home state, giving the Pacers flexibility as Collison’s numbers slipped. DC started for 59 games during the strike-shortened season, but then-coach Frank Vogel made the switch with four games remaining in the regular season. The choice was easy, really. Hill outproduced Collison offensively while defending at a level DC wasn’t capable of. Collison was always the better distributor, but Hill’s overall impact locked him into the starting spot and sent Darren to Dallas that summer.

Hill reigned as the point guard for four seasons until two years ago when Larry Bird sent him to the Utah Jazz for Teague.

Neither were given ceremonious exits and Collison’s reunion with the Pacers was muted when he signed.  Collison was perceived as a stop-gap measure for the Pacers more than anything else. A two-year deal confirmed as much. In his stops with the Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Kings, DC had the points, assists, and shooting to make him a worthy starter, but he never quite found the right balance as the scorer and distributor.

Speculation said he would be a trade chip for Indiana or merely the transitional point guard as the team rebuilt, but few, if any, expected Collison to play the best basketball of his career with the Pacers this season.

Collison puts it all together

This Pacers season is about defying expectations, and Collison is no different. His 46.8% 3-point percentage is the best in the NBA. That’s 5 percent better than a season ago. While it’s worth noting that both Bojan Bogdanovic and Victor Oladipo make more of them, Collison’s 3-point shot is a threat nonetheless.

It plays a factor in why he also posts 5.3 assists a game, nearly his career high. He opens up the floor more for himself by threatening to score from anywhere. That opens up passing lanes, making this the best season of his career in avoiding turnovers.

It’s all a cascading effect that makes the game easier for him and his teammates. Indiana’s offense ranked 12th in offensive rating and 14th in defensive rating this season. Collison’s lack of turnovers keeps the offense running smoothly. He tempers his own style to play more efficiently and that combines well with Oladipo’s more aggressive style in the backcourt.

The counting stats say this isn’t his best season, but all of the advanced stats say Collison is playing the best basketball of his career.

Collison vs Hill

All of this leads us to Game 1. Collison will take on the wingspan and defensive prowess of Hill. In everything but rebounds, Collison’s stats give him the edge over Hill. He scores more points and does it more efficiently while handing out more assists than his Cavalier counterpart.

But Hill doesn’t play the traditional point guard role in Cleveland as he plays with LeBron James. That takes pressure off of Hill to create and get the rest of the offense going. Hill’s goals today are to slow down and stop the combination of Collison and Victor Oladipo while picking his spots on offense.

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Collison’s mission is to press the Cavaliers defense by hitting a few 3-pointers and keeping the floor spaced with his shooting and passing. He is a decent enough defender, but his contributions on offense will likely determine the game’s outcomes more than slowing Hill.

Within the matchup, you’ll see the final years of Indiana’s post-Brawl rebuild and the recent golden years of two Eastern Conference Finals runs. There’s the history of two of the front office’s more important decisions in the past 10 years. There’s no going back and changing those now, but it’s hard not to wonder in which alternate universes there are Pacers teams playing with one or the other, or maybe both today.

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But the past is in the past. Both teams are comfortable with where they are now, but the future of both players and their teams are on the line. The question is will history repeat itself and Hill remain on top, or will Collison get the last laugh?