With free agency creeping up in a couple of days, the Detroit Pistons will look at signing a backup point guard. Is George Hill an option?
It’s almost that time of the year. Free agency is right around the corner and the Detroit Pistons are going to be active looking for a backup point guard.
With Ish Smith entering free agency and no player on the current roster to replace him, the Pistons are going to look at many point guards to fill that position. Darren Collison, Derrick Rose, and Seth Curry have been names thrown out that the Pistons will be targeting.
But the newest name that will possibly the list of players the Pistons are targeting is veteran point guard George Hill. Milwaukee waived him; making Hill a free agent.
Milwaukee guard George Hill will be waived and become a free agent, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Hill had a terrific finish to the season and will be a sought-after combo guard on the market. Bucks are working to find space to re-sign Hill, too.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 28, 2019
George Hill has spent 11 seasons in the NBA. Starting his career with the San Antonio Spurs for three seasons, Hill didn’t start to show his full potential as a player until he was traded on draft night to the Indiana Pacers for the 15th overall pick Kawhi Leonard.
Hill spent 5 seasons with the Pacers and averaged a solid 12.3 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent from three whilst playing great defense.
From there he’s bounced around the league from Utah to Sacramento, then to Cleveland and finally to Milwaukee in the most recent season.
Hill didn’t play well for the Bucks in the 47 games played. But he played extremely well in the playoffs. He averaged 11.5 points per game and 2.8 assists on 53.4 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from three.
Those are promising stats off the bench for George Hill. It shows that he could still have something still in the tank. And it could potentially be promising for the Pistons.
The Pistons have 9.2 million dollars in their mid-level exception to spend. That’s a bit too much to spend on an aging point guard. But the Pistons also have 3.6 million dollars in the bi-annual exception. Hill could potentially be a cheap backup point guard option for the Pistons.
If the Pistons were to go this route, they would likely keep their 9.2 million in the mid-level exception to spend on another player to strengthen their bench unit. Although it may not be the greatest option at the backup point guard, Hill has shown that he could still be a solid player for a team looking to make the playoffs.
And if Reggie Jackson were to go down with an injury, Hill has proven to be a veteran leader that can be a great locker room guy.