This is a deal I wanted to happen for two reasons.
The first is that there is basically no one left on the market for the Pacers to sign that would provide an upgrade to existing big men Ian Mahinmi and Lavoy Allen (rookie Myles Turner, as good as he’s looked in Summer League, remains an unknown).
It’s not clear that Hill, who turns 28 this month and is entering his physical prime, is an upgrade either, though it was a move the Larry Bird and the Pacers had to make after the Lakers refused to exercise Hill’s $9m player option. The contract details have not yet been revealed, though I’ve read somewhere that it could be a 2 year, $10m deal with the second year being an option. If so, that’s a good move by the Pacers because the Lakers could have asked for the Hibbert deal to be essentially a sign-and-trade with Jordan, meaning he would have taken up a bigger chunk of Indiana’s cap space.
Hill, as inflated as his stats were on a horrendous Lakers team last season, at least looks good on paper after having had a career year with averages of 12 points and 7.9 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game, shooting nearly 46% from the field and almost 74% from the free throw line.
He’s not a good defender so he won’t be replacing Hibbert’s rim defense, but I don’t think he’ll be that much worse on the defensive end than the near-35 David West, whose foot speed isn’t what it once was.
Like for newly signed Monta Ellis, Frank Vogel will have to find ways to maximize Hill’s strengths and hide his weaknesses on D. Hill actually posted a better efficiency rating at center than at power forward last season (20.1 vs 14.6), so it’ll be interesting to see if Vogel will field a small ball lineup with Paul George at the four and Hill at the five on a semi-regular basis.
Hill is not a great shooter either, posting a career-low in FG% last season (in particular, only 40% from 3-10 feet and 34% from 10-16 feet) as his usage rate spiked, but what he does bring is length (listed at 6’10”) and athleticism and rebounding. Though his rebound percentages dropped over the last couple of years due to a heavier load on offense, I expect him to pick it up again in Indiana. He can run the floor and finish alley oops, something no Pacers big man since Josh McRoberts has been capable of offering on a regular basis.
Look, Hill’s not a huge difference-maker or even a very good NBA player. The atrocious Lakers were actually better without him on the floor last season (net rating of -3.8 when he was on the bench compared to -10.9 when he was on the floor). That said, given the current died-up landscape and Indiana’s gaping hole in the front court, Hill is about as good as the Pacers were going to get.
That leaves me with the second reason for wanting Hill — he completes a Hill triumvirate in Indy along with George Hill and Solomon Hill. I can’t wait for Vogel to try the two-George, three-Hill starting line-up of George Hill, Monta Ellis, Solomon Hill, Paul George and Jordan Hill to confuse the hell out of everyone.
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