Jordan Hill's Greatest Value to LA Lakers Rebuild Is as a Massive Trade Chip
Sometimes, a career year is just not enough to earn an invite back—take the case of Jordan Hill and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team has a $9 million option on the 6’10” big man, but it also possesses the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. And with Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke perched atop the leaderboard, bringing Hill back may be an unnecessary luxury.
"Lakers fans are real pleased with themselves considering Jordan Hill is their second best player.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) May 20, 2015"
That said, Hill still holds value for the front office and a rebuilding roster—as a massive trade chip.
And, as Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak succinctly observed during his media exit interview, per Lakers.com, there are three basic components for roster building.
“Our basic philosophy is to use the three tools available to us,” Kupchak said. “Which is the ability to make a trade, the draft and cap room during the offseason.”
L.A. is in good shape with the No. 2, No. 27 and No. 34 draft picks, as well as cash on hand (about $23 million without Hill and $14 million if they pick up his option). They also have the ability to trade assets, such as Hill on a sign-and-trade.
Now 27, the former Arizona Wildcat was drafted by the New York Knicks, traded to the Houston Rockets and then traded again to Los Angeles. His game has often been predicated on bringing bursts of athletic intensity off the bench. This season brought a new opportunity, however—as the team's starting center.
It might have seemed like a golden opportunity for sustained success. But while Hill upped his overall numbers, there was something missing—the six-year veteran just wasn’t playing with his usual aggression. He eventually lost his starting position and was moved back to the second unit as a power forward.
To Hill’s credit, he tried to expand his game, deviating from his bread-and-butter power slams and sinking mid-range set shots at a respectable rate—39.5 percent from 16 feet out to the three-point line.
Hill had previously been encouraged to step out more by Mike D’Antoni, but it was somewhat surprising when the combo center/power forward chose to continue the trend under new coach Byron Scott.
| 0-3 feet | 3-10 feet | 10-16 feet | 16-3pt line | 3pt | |
| 2012-13 | .426 | .239 | .065 | .258 | .013 |
| 2013-14 | .411 | .363 | .111 | .113 | .002 |
| 2014-15 | .245 | .227 | .136 | .368 | .014 |
But that ambition also came at a price—Hill’s per-36 rebounds dropped from 12.8 the season before to 10.7. During his recent exit interview, per Lakers.com, the former eighth overall pick recounted criticism from Scott.
“A little disappointment from Coach Byron,” Hill said. “He wanted to see more energy from me this year, which I didn’t show… Shooting a lot more, it took away from my rebounding.”
But while the draft may bring new vitality from Towns or Okafor, that’s not to say the Lakers will automatically let Hill’s option slide. There won’t exactly be a bumper crop of available big men during the offseason, and with that will come an increased willingness for teams with frontcourt needs to engage in trade talks.
The first opportunity will come during draft night as front office executives huddle in war rooms, burn through cell phone batteries and jockey for big board positioning.
Packaging Hill with the L.A.’s 27th or 34th pick could be an attractive presentation to other teams.
For example, faced with the possibility of losing LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez during free agency, the Portland Trail Blazers might consider swapping small forward Nicolas Batum for Hill and the Lakers’ 27th pick.
Or what about Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors? The 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk champion is an explosive young player coming off surgery to have bone spurs removed from his ankle. The Raptors need athleticism at the power forward position, and the Lakers need help at the wing—the Wesley Johnson experiment having been a total bust.
In February, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweeted that the Raptors might be willing to build a trade package that would include Ross. Whether that’s still the case remains to be seen.
There are any number of other ways to use Hill through the draft, including moving a pick up the ladder. But if there aren’t any willing takers on the chaotic night of June 25, L.A. will still have a few days to decide on the former lottery pick’s option—free agency begins July 1.
Kupchak isn’t one to speak voluminously about the art of trade, but he has famously pulled rabbits from a hat in the past.
In February 2008, the Lakers swapped Kwame Brown and the draft rights to the (then) relatively obscure Marc Gasol to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marc’s older brother Pau. The result was a revitalized Lakers squad and, eventually, two more championships.
In December 2011, Kupchak engineered a three-team trifecta, sending Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom to the New Orleans Hornets—then owned by the NBA—and receiving Chris Paul from the Hornets in return.
But then-NBA commissioner David Stern squashed the deal “for basketball reasons,” sending shock waves through a league that had just emerged from a five-month lockout.
And in August 2012, the Lakers GM orchestrated a four-team exchange that sent Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers and brought Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Bynum’s too-short career would soon fade away due to chronic knee ailments, and Howard only lasted a season in L.A. before bolting for Houston the following summer.
But despite the eventual successes or disappointments of such elaborate transactions, each one was a testament to the ability of the Lakers front office to navigate the volatile trade market, putting together deals with a lot of moving parts.
As July 1 draws nearer, teams will get a better sense of what free agents are planning to do. If the Lakers believe they have a realistic shot at a max contract star like Aldridge or Marc Gasol, they’ll need every bit of their available cap room—and that means Hill’s $9 million option.
It’s the phone calls and conversations behind closed doors that culminate in deals—information that is rarely made public unless it’s leaked for leverage. If a team senses that a prized player is heading out the door, a sign-and-trade may be the only recourse to salvage some shred of value.
Hill ripped down nine double-doubles in November—he was arguably second only to Kobe Bryant in terms of importance to the team at the time. That would soon change, however. Bryant suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and as the losses continued to mount, the emphasis turned to developing and evaluating young players.
But despite Hill’s eventual drop-off and his newfound love for flat-footed jumpers, he remains a player with value in the league. He won’t have any trouble landing his next job if the Lakers let him walk.
Then again, he could also be shipped out as a massive trade chip in a deal that nobody could have anticipated.
The Lakers' summer is about to heat up. And we’ll have to wait to see if Hill becomes fuel for the fire.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.
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