The Pacers gave George Hill the option of being waived after acquiring him from the Bucks, so that he could hook onto a contender. Hill declined the offer and hopes he can stay with the franchise he played for from 2011-16 beyond this season, according to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. Hill will be a free agent this summer.
“I’ve thought long and hard and I think that’s the biggest reason why I chose to stay here and not try to get out and go somewhere else. I felt like I still have a lot left to offer, either on the floor or to pick the brain and being a vet,” Hill said of becoming a mentor for the Pacers’ younger players. “Definitely don’t want it to be kind of like a rental opportunity. And would love to stay here for some years and grow with these young guys.”
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- After a Bulls loss to Cleveland on Saturday, DeMar DeRozan said that he and Zach LaVine must establish a better rhythm during crunch time, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. “We’ve just got to do a better job of understanding possessions in a game,’’ DeRozan said. “I wouldn’t put it on teams having us figured out. I’d say 85% of it is picking and choosing on understanding the possession and not feeling so rushed into trying to hit a home run every possession. … It’s about us playing the game the right way, understanding what needs to be done, how we can play off one another, how we can use each other to help everyone else on the team to be in better position to make plays for us as well. It’s on us more than anything.’’
- If Nerlens Noel chooses the buyout route with the Pistons, the Sixers would be interested in him as a backup to Joel Embiid, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has been a fan of Noel’s playing style for some time, Pompey writes, noting that the big man could serve as the sort of rim protector Philadelphia is lacking on its second unit.
- Derrick White has been a solid and steady contributor since the Celtics acquired him from San Antonio last season, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston writes. White hasn’t missed a game since the trade and has the best plus/minus rating on any player on the team except for Robert Williams, who has missed a chunk of the season. White is signed through the 2024/25 season.
Trivia time: what do George Hill and DeMar DeRozan have in common?
Yo momma!
Both traded for Kawhi?
Both apparently finishing their careers on teams with no chance of a championship?
Can’t believe Chicago held steady at the deadline. There is going to be some off-season overhauling coming no doubt
If that were the case, why wait? This org is just too busy covering their own ass instead of doing whats right and moving anyone with any value at the deadline and admitting that building a team around a guy like Ball was a horrible idea.
It’s all on ownership and their willingness to spend their profit margins… Or lack of…
You’ll find many owners are perfectly happy as long as there’s butts on seats… Nothing happened about Gar/Pax until it reached that point…
If Ball was Healthy Chicago would be different! Why not see?
If this, if that.. Another Reinsdorf team with a pile of hopes and what ifs…. Ball aint coming back, he has already milked Reinsdorf of a year of salary to do nothing, and he is not going to stop there….The biggest issue was building the team with the whole idea of Ball being the lynchpin.. Dumb move and time to pull the plug on this sad team. The Bulls should have moved pieces, now they wont and they will lose value because of it.. but hey at least Jerry did not go over the Luxury tax right?
What if Ball returns and plays like a shell of his former self due to the dodgy surgery?
They were a fun also ran with Ball… Not a contender…
Noel is a good move. Yes do it Sixers.
If LaVine and Derozan haven’t figured out how to play together by now, Guess what, It ain’t happening.
Agreed, there is a LOT of denial in this org, and it costs them every game, and every year.. too much CYA and not enough doing things it takes to win.. Another Reinsdorf team too busy counting their money and riding a bench instead of bustin butt out there…
They should blow this dumpster up and only keep Dosunmu, and maybe Williams. They show promise, but not with a guy like Donovan ‘coaching’ them.
Problem is Zach don’t know how to play winning basketball, Demar does. Lavine only had 1 or 2 winning seasons in his career, he’s a total “me first” guy
Dude they all are. They just want to get paid and be ahead of …. Ppl. No passion for the game. Maybe 10 percent of them have pride and deserve their money
Even MJ learned he has team mates by this age, Zach is not going to.