George Hill began his career as a solid backup point guard with the San Antonio Spurs before they traded him to his hometown Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to some guy you may have heard of named Kawhi Leonard. While Hill has never reached the heights that Leonard has in terms of overall accolades, the former IUPUI Jaguar put together a nice career in Indianapolis.
One of the areas that Hill excelled at was shooting behind the arc. In five seasons with the Pacers, Hill shot a healthy 37.6 percent from 3-point range and hit 37.7 percent of them during the playoffs. That efficiency combined with the increased importance of the 3-point shot league-wide allowed Hill to reach the fifth spot on the Pacers all-time rankings for made treys.
While his overall game paints the picture of a crafty guard with a diversified skill set, Hill took most of his threes as a standstill shooter while with the Pacers. Obviously, he was effective in that role. Using NBA.com’s shot tracking data, which goes back to the 2013-14 season, Hill shot 40.7, 39.7, and 44.6 percent on catch-and-shoot threes in his final seasons in Indy.
The Spurs may have gotten the last laugh (not this laugh) on draft night, but the Pacers got a good point guard that could proficiently hit threes and keep the floor spaced. Hill was the perfect point guard for those defensive-minded, hard-nosed Pacers teams that gave LeBron James’ Miami Heat a run for their money in consecutive Eastern Conference Finals.