Indiana Pacers’ George Hill’s tenure with the San Antonio Spurs ended last night.
He was a fan, coach and front office favorite. Coach Gregg Popovich would often refer to George as his favorite player and upon trading him GM R.C. Buford said it was one of the most difficult decisions the Spurs had to make.
But what are the Pacers saying about their newest member?
Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird has been coveting ”Indiana” George for years and spoke about that after the trade:
“We talked to them about George the last couple years,” Bird said. “We’ve been talking to them the last couple weeks and we weren’t really sure whether there would be any interest or not.”
“He’s an experienced player, he’s been to the playoffs. He’s a big guard. We like him because we know he’s got length and can defend.”
This isn’t a move where a team drafts or acquires a player who grew up or played in college locally for an easy marketing angle. They really like Hill the ball player.
“It always helps, but George Hill is a good NBA player first of all, and it helps that he’s from here,” Bird said. “But we didn’t trade for him because he’s from Indianapolis. We traded for him because he’s a good player.”
The Pacers were building up a nice young team before they acquired Hill and this could put them over the hump talent-wise to grab a playoff spot in the East. They took a Chicago Bulls to task in the playoffs, have young players such as Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Nick Collison, and Paul George, the addition of Hill just gives them another weapon on the court.
What do you think about this trade Spurs fans? Did the Spurs get the best of this trade or did the Pacers? Give us your take on it.
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