'Solomon Hill Got Paid Off One F--king Playoff Series,' Says Anonymous NBA Exec

As the NBA plans to restart its 2019-20 season in Orlando, Florida, front offices are wary of letting a breakout performance in a small sample size impact free agency.

"Solomon Hill got paid off one f--king playoff series," one Western Conference executive joked, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. "Yeah, that could happen. It shouldn't. If you have a process, the answer is it shouldn't."

Hill saw limited action during the 2015-16 season with the Indiana Pacers, averaging 4.2 points in 14.7 minutes per game. His role increased in the playoffs with 28.3 minutes per contest, averaging 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in seven games.

The 33.8 percent career three-point shooter also shot 11-of-19 from beyond the arc.

The seventh-seeded Pacers took the No. 2 seed Toronto Raptors to Game 7 before suffering the first-round loss.

Hill signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans in free agency that offseason but never lived up to expectations.

The forward averaged just 5.8 points per game in three seasons with New Orleans before being traded last summer.

It likely won't be the last time a team makes a mistake in free agency, but this summer could be especially dangerous with the unique structure of the restart. A layoff of more than four months might create short-term memory with previous production nearly forgotten by the time free agency comes.

There are also fewer elite free agents available after many big names changed teams last offseason. Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram are the only All-Stars from this season who could hit the open market.

A team that misses out on a star could overpay a second-tier player as a result.