Nuggets Free Agency: Lakers discussing 1-year deal with George Hill
By Tom West
The Denver Nuggets’ top remaining target in NBA free agency, George Hill, is meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers to discuss a one-year deal.
The Denver Nuggets don’t want to ease up their efforts to add talent in NBA free agency. After agreeing to a three-year, $90 million deal with Paul Millsap on Sunday (more on why it’s such a great deal here), they’ve focused their attention on the top point guard remaining on the market, George Hill. As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported, the Los Angeles Lakers are meeting with Hill on Monday to discuss a one-year deal.
Free agent George Hill and reps are meeting with the Lakers today in Los Angeles, discussing a one-year deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2017
LaVar Ball, as he always has been, is madly (and wrongly) confident that his son, Lonzo Ball, is going to lead the Lakers to the playoffs this season. The team’s No. 2 overall pick from this year’s draft has rare passing ability and vision that should help instil a fluid, selfless mindset for the team in due course, but he won’t be ready right away. Like any rookie, especially a point guard thrown into a big role, he’ll need a while to develop.
This is where Hill comes into play. He’s an experienced, intelligent, well-balanced two-way player that Ball can learn from, and one who can help the Lakers immediately with a dose of extra scoring, shooting and sound defense. Clearly the Lakers have invested in Ball as their future, so signing Hill for one year would ensure that they have a veteran mentor for the rookie and can still hand the keys of the team to Ball going forward. They don’t want to be bothered by an expensive Hill contract for years to come.
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For the Nuggets, this obviously gives them extra competition. The point guard market has been quiet this summer as the interest level and spending across the league has been low for the position, which does help the Nuggets’ chances to win Hill over without overspending. That said, the Lakers have cap space and haven’t been up to much in free agency yet, setting them up to pay him well for a single year (similarly to J.J. Redick’s one-year, $23 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers).
The Lakers and L.A. have appeal now that their future is looking a little brighter, but they’re still years from contending. Can they really win Hill over with such a short deal (even if it’s a highly-paid one) to help mentor young players? We’ll have to wait and see.
Next: Why Paul Millsap is a perfect fit for Nuggets
Hopefully for the Nuggets’ sake of adding a perfect sidekick and off-ball point guard for Nikola Jokic, they can clear enough cap space for Hill by trading Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur. From there, they’ll look to win him over with a more talented team and the greater stability of a longer term contract.