What's Your Worth: Grant Hill

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

As featured on RealGM.com:

http://suns.realgm.com/articles/122/20090709/how_much_is_grant_hill_worth/

There is no question that, despite the economy, the NBA’s market is inflated.

Even if there aren’t as many teams spending this offseason, you can be rest assured it’s because teams are preparing for the much awaited 2010 free agency, where they will certainly have to overpay to acquire talent.

With inflation of the market comes a new standard for what the available talent is worth. Setting the standards are second-tier reserves, like Jerome James and Jared Jeffries, who were given $30 million contracts over the last few seasons.

Even a clutch player like Hedo Turkoglu has seemed to take advantage of the new standard as he cashed in on a contract worth $53 million with the Toronto Raptors.

While Turkolou is certainly a talented player, since when did a player with his talents and statistics become worth so much?

That type of contract should be reserved for the all-stars and MVPs around which a team can center a supporting cast (see the models of the Celtics and Lakers, the champions of the last two seasons).

With the Raptors giving Turkoglu that much money, the team’s hands are going to be tied as they look to bring in even better talent under this recently inflated standard.

Which leads us to Grant Hill.

In this inflated market, one would think a six-time all star and 14-year veteran would at least warrant a team’s mid-level exception, which is an estimated $5.6-5.8 million this offseason.

Think again.

Various teams, such as the Suns, Celtics, and the Knicks, have veteran Grant Hill chomping at the bit for a contract worth a team’s biannual exception, about $1.9 million.

Hill was an MVP-type figure when he hit the free agent market in 2000 after spending the first six seasons of his promising career with the Pistons. He signed a contract with the Magic that summer, only to experience a whirlwind of problems, appearing in only 200 out of a possible 492 games in six seasons due to injuries.

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