Cavaliers Trade Rumors: George Hill Contract Stalling Iman Shumpert Swap

Sacramento Kings guard George Hill was apparently almost a Cleveland Cavalier, but trade talks regarding a swap for Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye reportedly stalled when Cleveland wanted Hill to surrender some of his future guaranteed salary. 

"George Hill, they didn't want to buy him out this year," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on ESPN Radio (via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports). "What they wanted to do was protect themselves in the event that, if LeBron James left, whether George Hill would be willing to take a buyout on the $20 million he's owed on his contract after this season."

Feldman noted something similar happened in 2015 when Ty Lawson reduced the guarantee in his contract when he was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Houston Rockets. "He flopped in Houston, got cut and lost about $12 million he otherwise would've earned," Feldman wrote. "He's now out of the league."

In this case, Feldman noted Cleveland "appeared on the verge" of landing Hill for Shumpert and Frye before the talks hit this snag.

This comes after Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com reported Thursday Cleveland and Sacramento were "further apart" on a potential Hill trade than initially thought with "significant hurdles" standing in the way.

Vardon said Sacramento wants to move on from Hill regardless of whether it trades him and could buy him out after De'Aaron Fox replaced him in the starting lineup.

While Hill would give the Cavaliers another talented guard in their backcourt rotation with his 10.5 points per game this season and career-best 16.9 points a night last season on the Utah Jazz, he also wouldn't address the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion's biggest weakness.

Cleveland is an abysmal 28th in the league in defensive rating this season, per NBA.com, and Hill struggles on the defensive end. The Kings' defensive rating is 113.4 when Hill is on the court and improves to 107.1 when he is off it, per NBA.com.

The Cavaliers sit in the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and are looking to shore up their defense as they attempt to close the gap on the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors. Hill's track record suggests he won't be the answer on that end of the floor.