George Hill Rumors | Hoops Rumors

George Hill On Resuming Season: “Last Thought On My Mind”

June 13th, 2020 at 11:55am CST by marksuleymanov

Amid civil unrest in the United States, the resumption of the 2019/20 NBA season has taken a backseat. After a Kyrie Irving-led conference call on Friday, the possibility of not reporting to Orlando and canceling the season was discussed as a means of not overshadowing the current social issues.

One player, in particular, who has been focusing on social justice issues rather than basketball is Bucks veteran guard George Hill, ESPN’s Eric Woodyard writes. While the 34-year-old maintains he is in good physical shape, the fallout of the George Floyd murder and the ensuing unrest around the world has shifted his perspective.

“I’ve been working every day since this all started with my body, my game and things like that, but as a whole, I can care less about basketball right now. … that’s my last thought on my mind is basketball,” Hill said. “I can care less what’s going on. I think there’s bigger issues and bigger things to tackle in life right now than a basketball game.”

In addition to the social impact, some doubt has been cast on the NBA’s plan to resume in Orlando given a recent spike of coronavirus cases in Florida and unclear safety protocols.

Hill stressed his role as a prominent athlete is to advocate for change that goes beyond the basketball court. While he feels physically up for the challenge, Hill noted his mental state still needs time to catch up.

“I don’t know how it’s going to affect me on the basketball court,” he said. “I know that I, physically, have been working my ass off this entire time I’ve been off. I haven’t taken one day off since this whole hiatus has came into effect. … I’m in great physical shape, but mentally, I’ve still got a little more work to do.”

George Hill: Life Is More Important Than Basketball

April 26th, 2020 at 10:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Some NBA facilities could reopen in five days, but Bucks guard George Hill is concerned that the league is moving too quickly, writes Sacha Pisani of The Sporting News. Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Hill expressed concerns that the coronavirus is still too widespread for players to return safely.

“I’m a little 50-50 . . . life itself is bigger than the money aspect of the game,” Hill said on the possibility of canceling the season. “Yes, as competitors and athletes we want to play this season. But if more lives are in jeopardy, I couldn’t care less about the season. Life is way more precious than this ball that we play in. If they cancel the season, as an athlete I would be upset, but we can’t do anything about it. If we play, I’m excited to play again and get back on the court. We had something special going on and I’d love to finish it.”

Milwaukee has as much incentive as anyone to try to salvage the season. The Bucks were on top of the Eastern Conference with a 53-12 record when the hiatus began and are among the favorites to capture the NBA title. Hill believes Milwaukee fans, and NBA fans in general, will be understanding if the season has to be called off.

Hill also addressed the financial aspects of the shutdown, as many players have millions of dollars at stake if the season cannot be finished. He’s in the first season of a three-year, $29MM deal that he signed last summer.

“The world is bigger than just NBA fans. To our fans, it will be exciting to get the season back, to get it up and going and get something to watch on TV,” Hill said. “But if this is the cost for safety and health, what we have to ask is, ‘Is it worth it? Is it worth putting yourself on the line, putting your family and kids on the line to make a couple more dollars?’ For me, personally, no. I didn’t grow up with money and I don’t define my life by money. I define my life around happiness, being safe, being able to enjoy life and live this life for a long time.”

Central Notes: Hill, Oladipo, Jackson, Bulls

February 13th, 2020 at 5:27pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Sweet-shooting Bucks backup point guard George Hill may be on one of the best teams in the NBA as he visits the Pacers, but he will always be an “Indianapolis boy” at heart, as the Indianapolis Star’s Dana Hunsinger Benbow details.

An alum of Broad Ripple High and IUPUI, Hill has been a solid NBA mainstay since being drafted in 2008. Hill apparently does not harbor much nostalgia for the Pacers, who traded him in the 2016 offseason to the Jazz. “I hope we beat them (by 20),” Hill said. “The Pacers didn’t want me.” The 46-8 Bucks sure do. Hill is connecting on an astronomical 51.1% of his 6.4 three-point attempts per game this season.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Though Pacers shooting guard Victor Oladipo has been back on the court for seven games, he knows he has yet to reclaim his All-Star caliber play, per Royce Young of ESPN. “I missed a whole year of NBA basketball, not just basketball,” Oladipo said. “It’s the highest level of basketball. It’s different.” Oladipo is averaging 11.1 PPG, 2.9 APG, and 2.0 APG in 25.0 minutes per contest.
Oft-injured Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson is in the final season of his five-year, $80MM contract, but the Pistons may not want to buy him out due to their limited options at his position, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
The slumping Bulls, losers of six straight games and owners of a paltry 19-36 record, offer more intrigue over the rest of this season than meets the eye, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cowley notes that head coach Jim Boylen, several young prospects, and even Chicago’s front office decision-makers might be fighting for their futures with the franchise during the 2019/20 home stretch.

Central Notes: Rose, Beilein, Giannis, Brogdon

October 1st, 2019 at 7:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard Derrick Rose signed with the Pistons because he feels the team can contend, Vince Ellis of the Free Press writes. Rose inked a two-year, $15MM deal with Detroit in free agency to lead its second unit. “I’ve had all the accolades in the past. I’m past that. Now I want to win,” he said. “The only thing on my résumé I’m missing is a championship and being here, seeing what happened last year with the Raptors in (the) East, you never know what can happen.”

We have more from the Central Division:

The Cavaliers are amazed by new coach John Beilein’s work ethic and the 66-year-old’s energy level, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “He has more energy than I do,” forward Larry Nance Jr. said. “He’s always going, always has something on his mind, always something he’s ready to talk about, teach and coach. It’s really exciting to see because as a player that’s what you want. You want somebody that is so eager to get started that they can’t even slow down.
The Bucks bet on continuity in their efforts to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign a super-max extension next summer, Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes. They managed to re-sign Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and George Hill in free agency and only lost one starter, Malcolm Brogdon. “We brought back a big part of the group; we believe in continuity,” GM Jon Horst said. “We think that gives us an advantage to have continuity. … This group looks like they’re growing, looks like they’re getting better, looks like they fit and they make sense and that we can compete and sustain success for a long period of time with this group and that’s been the goal.”
Despite Brogdon’s departure, the Bucks have plenty of options at shooting guard and small forward, Ben Steele of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out. “I think the vision going forward is with the addition of Wes Matthews and Kyle Korver as wings that have proven that they are elite-level shooters and great defenders,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Got young guys like Donte (DiVincenzo), Pat (Connaughton) and Sterling (Brown) that are all proven to some degree.” Hill, who signed a three-year, $29MM deal, is another option for Budenholzer.

Central Notes: Horst, Pistons, Kornet, Holidays

July 21st, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by clarkcrum

Eric Nehm of The Athletic recently sat down with the Bucks’ award-winning GM Jon Horst to discuss the team’s free agency this summer. Here are a few noteworthy passages from Horst’s interview.

Regarding the team’s ability to bring back Khris Middleton on a five-year deal:

“Khris was always a focus… He’s our second superstar, our second star. He’s an All-Star. He’s been one of our best players for a long period of time here… Khris was a target obviously and he got a contract that represents that and we think it’s a great contract because we got our second All-Star locked up for the next five years.”

Regarding the team’s trade of Tony Snell and a first-round pick for Jon Leuer in order to create the requisite cap space needed to re-sign Brook Lopez:

“When we got Brook last offseason, we understood, at some level, how important he was going to be to us… (and) we also understood if he’s as good as we think he’s going to be, it’s going to present a lot of challenges.”

“So, we spent the entire year trying to prepare for that… Just different things we did throughout the year were in preparation to position ourselves to either be prepared to keep Brook, be in a position to keep Brook or be prepared to react if we couldn’t… I don’t know if a lot of people saw it coming, maybe after the Tony Snell deal. Then, maybe they were like, ‘Okay, this is how they’re going to try to do it.’ But before that, I don’t think people saw the moves we lined up to position ourselves to hopefully keep Brook and I’m very thankful we were able to.”

Regarding the decision to trade RFA Malcolm Brogdon to Indiana and whether the luxury tax was a factor in that decision:

“I think there’s a lot that goes into restricted free agency. It’s a monster. Malcolm is very, very important and we knew how important he was to our team. It will be hard to replace him. I think we’ve done the best that we can and we’ll continue to work in ways to be creative and fill that gap.”

“I would say the luxury tax was only part of the consideration for not matching or not being willing to pay Malcolm the market that he was able to get from Indiana. Whether or not he had that market from anywhere else besides Indiana, I don’t know. The decision on Malcolm was much more about our internal evaluations, the roster fit, the ability to be flexible and have options going forward and just building a team that, as I always say, can sustain success over a long period.”

There’s more from the Central Division this afternoon:

Horst confirmed in the above interview that the Bucks were not able to create a traded player exception when they traded Brogdon to Indiana, as the signing of George Hill with cap space occurred after the trade, and teams lose their exceptions (other than the Room MLE) when they go under the cap.
Taking a look at what each player’s role may be for the Pistons’ during the 2019/20 season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com opines that there are five guys locked in to being sure-fire rotation pieces – Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, and Derrick Rose, and three who will almost certainly join that group – Markieff Morris, Tony Snell, and Bruce Brown.
The Bulls are hoping that the three-point shooting ability of free-agent addition, big man Luke Kornet, will be a nice complement next to starter Wendell Carter Jr. and fellow reserve, rookie Daniel Gafford, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com.
Pacers’ new addition Justin Holiday is excited about the prospect of playing with his baby brother, reserve point guard Aaron Holiday, reports Scott Agness of The Athletic. “It was the best situation I had at this time,” Justin said. “(T)he Pacers obviously being a contender every year and going to the playoffs, and then also them having my brother was something that was very, very enticing for me. To be able to be a part of that culture and play with my brother, I think it made it pretty simple where I needed to go.”

Contract Details: Portis, Theis, G. Hill, Harrison

July 19th, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

As we previously relayed, most of the new Knicks that signed multiyear contracts with the team this month received modest partial guarantees in the final year of their respective deals. Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington, and Reggie Bullock each have $1MM partial guarantees for 2020/21, while Julius Randle has a $4MM partial guarantee in 2021/22.

The only newly-signed member of the Knicks whose deal includes a team option – rather than a non-guaranteed final year – is Bobby Portis, per Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Portis will earn a guaranteed $15MM salary in 2019/20 with a $15.75MM team option for 2020/21.

Meanwhile, Marcus Morris is the only Knicks free agent addition who didn’t get a multiyear contract at all, as Pincus notes. Morris will earn a flat $15MM salary on his one-year deal.

Here are a few more contract details from around the Eastern Conference:

Daniel Theis‘ new two-year, $10MM deal with the Celtics is only guaranteed for the first year, according to Pincus. Theis’ $5MM non-guaranteed salary for 2020/21 would become guaranteed if he remains under contract through July 3, 2020.
Pincus also provides the specific details on the partial guarantee in year three of George Hill‘s new contract with the Bucks. After earning a total of $18.72MM in his first two seasons, the veteran guard has a $1.28MM partial guarantee in 2021/22 that increases his overall guarantee to exactly $20MM. If he remains under contract through July 1, 2021, Hill’s third year would be worth $10.05MM.
Having re-signed with the Bulls on a new one-year, minimum-salary contract, Shaquille Harrison received a partial guarantee worth $175K, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Harrison will also get a de facto no-trade clause as a result of signing a one-year deal with his previous team.

Bucks Re-Sign George Hill

July 9th, 2019 at 3:33pm CST by JD Shaw

JULY 9: Hill has officially re-signed with the Bucks, the team announced today in a press release.

“George is a consummate pro and an important part of our team,” GM Jon Horst said in a statement. “His veteran leadership and steady guard play were instrumental to our success last season, both during the regular season and the playoffs. We are thrilled to have him back with the Bucks.”

JULY 2: The Bucks officially waived Hill on Monday, according to the NBA’s transactions log. He’ll clear waivers this week, and then Milwaukee will be able to officially re-sign him once the moratorium ends on Saturday.

JUNE 30: The Bucks are set to re-sign veteran guard George Hill on a three-year, $29MM deal, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The deal has a partial guarantee in year three, tweets Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Milwaukee plans to waive Hill, who was originally set to make $18MM next season, and formally sign him to his new contract once the moratorium period ends on July 6.

Hill was a key cog for the Bucks during the postseason, scoring 11.5 points per game on 53% shooting from the floor and 42% shooting from 3-point range. Milwaukee values his experience, leadership and mentality on the hardwood and in the locker room.

The Bucks lost guard Malcolm Brogdon to Indiana on Sunday, but the team also worked to secure multi-year commitments from Hill, Khris Middleton, and two Lopezes — Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez.

Milwaukee will need to make at least one more roster move to fit Hill’s new contract in under the cap, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). While the deal is worth the same amount as the mid-level exception, the Bucks won’t have that exception available because they’ll need to use cap room to re-sign Brook Lopez.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Rumors: Middleton, Butler, Kanter, Temple

June 30th, 2019 at 3:27pm CST by clarkcrum

According to Marc Stein of The New York Times, the quietness surrounding the free agency destination of Bucks’ All-Star forward Khris Middleton is because interested front offices are universally presuming that Middleton is going back to Milwaukee on a “monster” five-year deal.

Middleton, 27, is eligible to sign a five-year, $189.904MM maximum-salary contract with the Bucks, while rival suitors can only (relatively speaking, of course) offer up to $140.791MM over four years.

Echoing Stein’s sentiment from rival front offices, Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box reports that Middleton is expected to re-sign with Milwaukee, adding that Brook Lopez and George Hill are also considered good bets to return.

Per Marc J. Spears of ESPN, unrestricted free agent center Enes Kanter is expected to have a phone call with the Blazers and Celtics when free agency tips off tonight at 5:00pm CST.
Spears is also reporting that UFA guard Garrett Temple is getting interest from the Nets, Nuggets, Jazz, and Rockets.
During their meeting this evening, Jimmy Butler is expected to tell the Heat that he wishes to play in Miami, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. It’s unclear whether Butler actually wants to play for the Heat of if he’s simply using this as a negotiating tactic to entice the 76ers to offer him a 5-year maximum-salary contract.
Per Harrison D. Sanford of The Green Room with Danny Green, free agent guard Danny Green is expecting to hear from the Raptors, Lakers, Sixers, Bulls, Mavericks, Rockets, and Knicks.

Free Agent Rumors: Randle, Gibson, Bullock, Bulls

June 29th, 2019 at 4:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings will be among the teams in pursuit of Pelicans forward Julius Randle, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. He cites the Nets, Knicks and Bulls as other expected suitors.

Randle, 24, had a career-best season after signing a one-year deal with New Orleans last summer. He averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 73 games while shooting 52% from the field. He also improved as a long-distance shooter, hitting 34% of his shots from 3-point range.

Here are more rumors as we move to within 24 hours of the start of free agency:

The Timberwolves will have plenty of competition for Taj Gibson, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who lists the Clippers, Nets, Bucks, Bulls, Warriors, Raptors, Trail Blazers, Hornets and Lakers as having interest in the veteran forward (Twitter link). Gibson has averaged 11.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG during his two years in Minnesota.
There’s mutual interest between the Knicks and shooting specialist Reggie Bullock, according to Ian Begley of SNY.TV. Bullock averaged 11.3 points per game while splitting last season between the Pistons and Lakers.
The Bulls are looking for a point guard, but want to limit the contract to two years, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. That may take them out of the running for Malcolm Brogdon or Patrick Beverley, Johnson notes, but he cites other options such as Cory Joseph, Tyus Jones and George Hill who might be willing to accept a shorter contract. The Bulls are counting on first-round pick Coby White to take over the position within two years and want the free agent’s contract to expire in the summer of 2021 at the same time as Otto Porter‘s and Cristiano Felicio‘s.

Free Agency Notes: Mirotic, Kanter, Knicks

June 29th, 2019 at 2:27pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Nikola Mirotic helped kick off free agency weekend by opting to play in Barcelona next season. It’s a surprising development considering he was a coveted free agent.

The Jazz had their eye on Mirotic and had “major interest” in trying to sign him to a three-year deal in the $45MM range, Marc Stein of The New York Times hears (Twitter link). The market for stretch fours is even thinner now after Mirotic’s decision.

Let’s take a look at more free agency notes from around the league:

The Clippers have interest in Enes Kanter, Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard reports (Twitter link). Broussard also confirms that the Celtics and Lakers are eyeing the center, as was previously reported.
There’s been no indication that the Celtics are still pursuing Clint Capela, whether it be a Rockets‘ sign-and-trade involving Jimmy Butler or any scenario, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald tweets. Capela had previously been linked to Boston.
The Knicks will not extend a qualifying offer to Isaiah Hicks, Ian Begley of SNY.tv tweets. Hicks was on a two-way contract last season.
New York has interest in George Hill and Wayne Ellington, Begley relays in a full-length piece. Both veterans will be targets regardless of whether the Knicks land any stars in free agency.