Nuggets Free Agency Rumors: Denver expressing interest in George Hill
By Tom West
In addition to their pursuit of Paul Millsap, the Denver Nuggets have reportedly expressed interest in point guard George Hill in NBA free agency.
The Denver Nuggets are looking to make something happen in NBA free agency. Before the stunning deal that sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they were close to a three-team trade with the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers that would have landed Kevin Love in Denver (who needs defense?) and sent Gary Harris to Indiana, but the Pacers backed out, per ESPN’s Mike Wise.
Never mind. That trade idea is long gone, but the Nuggets are still surveying the market and have expressed interest in free agent point guard George Hill, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.
The San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets are expressing interest in point guard George Hill, sources tell The Salt Lake Tribune
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) July 1, 2017
One important note after this report is that the San Antonio Spurs agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal to re-sign point guard Patty Mills. Their talks with Hill “broke off,” as The Vertical’s Shams Charania reported early in free agency, so there’s a little less competition fighting for Hill.
ESPN’s Ian Begley has also reported the Nuggets’ interest and mentioned that the team has reached out to Hill.
Bringing in Hill would surely end the tenure of other point guards in Denver, as there’d simply be too many at the position. Jameer Nelson and Emmanuel Mudiay would probably be two likely trade candidates to clear space. If the Nuggets can’t get their hands on someone like Paul Millsap, though, shifting a couple of pieces would make sense for Hill, who would be a major upgrade at point guard.
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He’s perfect to play with Nikola Jokic, too. Hill is coming off the best offensive season of his career with the Utah Jazz, scoring a career-high 16.9 points per game to go along with his 40.3 percent 3-point shot and aways sound perimeter defense. His defensive presence (sixth among point guards in Defensive Real/Plus Minus last season) would be a terrific addition, seeing as he could help cover the best guard of opponents and keep players at bay outside to avoid so many drives inside towards the weak rim protection of Jokic.
Hill would be an easy fit next to Jokic as a complementary ball handler, possessing enough ability as an extra scorer and the kind of catch-and-shoot threat that’s ideal shifting around the court off-ball. Even though he’s 31, he had a great season with the Jazz and the nagging toe injury that helped limit him to 49 games is nothing to cause serious concern.
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Hill could easily command close to $20 million per year and, unfortunately, is late in his prime, so we’ll see how interested Denver really are in a new point guard soon enough. It’s not their priority with Millsap on their radar.
