Best Potential Landing Spots for Jordan Hill in 2015 NBA Free Agency
Jordan Hill's free agency comes at a tricky time, which makes finding him a suitable destination complicated.
In June, the Los Angeles Lakers set him free by declining the final year and $9 million of his contract. With many teams happily throwing around moderate to severe overpays on multiyear offers (thanks to the rising cap that will make almost any contract seem like a bargain in coming summers), Hill, a 6'10" forward coming off a career season, looked to be in a good spot.
Hill's counting numbers last seasonโ12 points and 7.9 reboundsโ were his best ever, and they came in the largest sample of playing time he'd ever had in a season. Unfortunately, those 57 starts and nearly 1,900 minutes also revealed his considerable flaws.
Hill's rebounds came at a cost to his team; the Lakers were better on the glass when he sat, according to NBA.com. And he sacrificed some scoring efficiency for volume, shooting a career-low 45.9 percent from the field.
Nonetheless, teams with cap room still need to fill out rosters. And those that missed out on bigger frontcourt names could do worse than Hill, who is still just 27 years old and a proven scorer.
Hill's not likely to recoup the $9 million he would have made if the Lakers had kept him around, but there's still money out there for him in a limited role.
Unless otherwise noted, signings and other player moves areย courtesyย of ESPN.com's tracker.
Orlando Magic
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In 16.2 minutes per game last season, bulky big man Kyle O'Quinn gave the Orlando Magic solid rebounding, sneakily clever passing and a dash of reasonably efficient scoring. His July deal with the New York Knicks opens up minutes in the frontcourt rotationโminutes Hill could absorb.
In a perfect world, Tobias Harris (just re-signed to a four-year, $64 million pact), stretch big Channing Frye or sophomore Aaron Gordon would eat up most of the time at the 4 for the Magic. But Frye was in and out of the starting lineup all year, and his three-point accuracy dipped to just 34.6 percent.
Orlando didn't seem fully ready to embrace smaller power forwards either, which kept Harris and Gordon from seeing much time in that role.
With the mini mid-level and biannual exceptions available, which pay approximately $2.8 and $2.1 million respectively next season, the Magic could bring in Hill to compensate for O'Quinn's departure.
The role wouldn't be nearly as substantial as it was with the Lakers last year, but if Hill could see more minutes against second units, perhaps it would help boost his production (and value going forward). The Magic don't have much in the way of steady inside scoring at the 4โwhich is what Hill would likely play with Nikola Vucevic holding down the center spotโand Hill shot 68.9 percent from inside three feet last season, according toย Basketball-Reference.com.
This is a fit that could benefit both sides.
Los Angeles Lakers
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The Lakers struck out on their biggest free-agent targets again this summer: no LaMarcus Aldridge, no DeAndre Jordan and no Greg Monroe.
And, well, noย anybody, actually.
Coming back to Hill would feel like a concession, like the Lakers showed up at a party with Hill, ditched him to seek out more interesting conversation, took a lap around the punch bowl, found nobody who'd talk to them, and then circled back sheepishly.
Toss in the facts that the Lakers snatched away $9 million from Hill, and that they'd almost certainly want to pay him less than that this time around, and you've got the recipe for an awkward negotiation.
Still, it's a conversation the Lakers seem willing to have, according to Mark Medina of theย Los Angeles Daily News: "Despite declining his team option worth $9 million only a day earlier, the Lakers expressed interest in re-signing Jordan Hill as a free agent, according to a league source familiar with the situation."
Having watched him for the last three-plus seasons, the Lakers should know better than anybody what Hill is worth. If they can convince him to return at a discount, why not go for it?
One hurdle might be the conditioning issues head coach Byron Scott highlighted in April, per Medina:
""I donโt know what he does in the summer time to get ready for the season," Scott said. "But whatever it is, you have to up it. Heโs got to up it. Then you have to look at what heโs eating and change eating habits as well. Thereโs a lot that goes into it when youโre trying to get ready for the NBA season."
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Nonetheless, with Roy Hibbert reportedly inbound, the Lakers could use a 4 with decent range, and Hill shot 39.5 percent from 16-23 feet last year.
If Hibbert plays like the shot-gobbling rim-protector he's been in the past, Hill's defensive atrocities won't matter as much.
Hill's the same player as he was a year ago, but he might be a better fit if the circumstances and salary change.
New York Knicks
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Hill's first stint with the New York Knicks lasted just 24 games before he was traded to the Houston Rockets as part of a multi-team deal during his rookie season.
Though it probably has little to do with wanting to give Hill more time to appreciate life in the Big Apple, the Knicks have interest in bringing back the guy they took with the No. 8 pick in the 2009 draft, according to Sean Deveney of SportingNews.com.
The Knicks have quietly made a handful of shrewd, high-value signings this summer, inking Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez, Derrick Williams and O'Quinn to reasonable deals. New York won't want to tie up much money ahead of another big free-agency period in 2016, so Hill would likely have to settle for less than the $4 million per year O'Quinn will make.
The rotation will be crowded, too. But Hill has more size than Williams or O'Quinn and more touch than Lopez, so his skills wouldn't be duplicative. Carving out minutes wouldn't be impossible.
And who knows? After years in one big market, maybe Hill will want to try out another one.
Indiana Pacers
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Hibbert is probably gone, David West opted out, Luis Scola remains unsigned and Chris Copeland may not be back either.
The Indiana Pacers need some frontcourt help, and if said help could score a little bit, all the better.
Hill's reputation suggests he won't make the Pacers (or any other team) better on defense. When he was on the floor for the Lakers last year, opponents scored 109.5 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. When he sat, that figure dipped to 106.7.
Neither number was good, and even cursory film study revealed Hill to be an inattentive, sporadically engaged defensive player last year. Opponents shot 4.6 percent better than their averages when Hill was the primary defender in 2014-15, according to NBA.com.
That sort of thing won't fly in Indiana, where Frank Vogel has built his name and a considerable amount of team success on defensive fortitude.
But if you're Hill, and you want to rehabilitate your basketball image a bit, succeeding in Indiana could go a long way. If he could buy into the system and play middling D for a team that defines itself on that end, clubs around the league might start thinking of Hill as a useful two-way guy when he hits free agency the next time around.
That's an optimistic angle considering what we've seen from Hill to this point, but at least he'll have a real opportunity to get on the court and prove he can grow with the Pacers. There aren't many proven bodies standing in his way.
The right coach in the right situation can do wonders for a player's value. Vogel and Indy might be the ideal combo for Hill.
Toronto Raptors
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Credit the Toronto Raptors for embracing the NBA's most recently successful trend: undersized power forwards who can stretch the floor on offense without giving away too much on the other end.
They signed DeMarre Carroll to a four-year deal worth $60 million almost immediately after the negotiation period began, and they let more traditional big man Amir Johnson walk away as a free agent. Other than Patrick Patterson, who often finished games for the Raps last year, Toronto doesn't have much in the way of conventional power forwards on the roster anymore.
So maybe there's a spot for Hill to squeeze in.
And if the Raps want to utilize all their power forwards as floor-stretchers, it's worth noting that Hill shot 27.3 percent from long range last year despite playing for a Lakers team that never made three-point shooting a priority.
We know Hill can hit the long two with reasonable accuracy, so if he could get that three-point conversion rate up around 33 or 34 percent, he'd become much more valuable. His stroke is solid, and it might just be a question of getting reps...and playing for a team that values perimeter shooting from frontcourt players.
โShooting more now took away from my rebounding a little bit," Hill said in his exit interview in April, via Lakers.com. "But Iโm trying to increase my game, hopefully go out to the three-point line next year."
As an outside-the-box fit, the Raptors could be worthwhile.
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