George Hill is the perfect complement to LeBron James
By Jeff Siegel
In a flurry of moves to remake most of their roster on deadline day, the Cleveland Cavaliers picked up the perfect point guard to play next to LeBron James in George Hill.
Hill’s defensive tenacity and offensive versatility will be a welcome addition to a Cleveland team that got neither of those from Isaiah Thomas, who just plainly did not fit with the Cavaliers. Hill can operate with and without the ball, can capably defend both guard positions and most importantly, has the personality to fit into a team with a star, as he did in Indiana with Paul George in the early part of this decade.
Offensively, you couldn’t create a better partner for James than Hill, who consistently puts the ball in the basket in low-usage roles. His efficiency is marvelous for a point guard: He’s been in the 83rd percentile or better every year since his rookie season in effective field goal percentage, per Cleaning the Glass. This year is no different, as he’s putting together the most efficient season of his career despite playing in Sacramento, where offense goes to die. The Kings turned him into more of a pick-and-roll ball handler than he’ll be in Cleveland, where he’ll get back to what he does best — spotting up from beyond the arc.
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Hill scores 1.37 points per possession on spot-up possessions, per Synergy, a trend that’s been consistent for him over the years. He’s a wonderful shooter from outside and is banging them in at the best rate of his career to this point. Other than his rookie year in San Antonio, he’s never been worse than 36 percent from 3-point range and is shooting a scorching 45 percent this season, albeit on his fewest attempts since his first year in Indiana. His move to Cleveland will certainly raise his 3-point attempt rate, as the Cavaliers won’t put him in the same offensive role he occupied in Sacramento.
Other than his outside shooting, Hill brings a lot of offensive value with the ball in his hands or as a cutter. Sacramento scored 88.5 points per 100 possessions on plays finished by a Hill pick-and-roll, which isn’t great but it has to be graded on the curve. (It is the Kings, after all). He’s shown in his other NBA stops that he’s a capable ball handler in pick-and-roll and will be able to buoy the Cavaliers’ offense when James sits, which has been a problem spot for Cleveland. If head coach Tyronn Lue so chooses, a second-unit offense anchored by Hill and Kevin Love (when he returns from his hand injury) could be very effective by combining Hill’s ability on and off the ball with Love’s ability to space the floor and run the offense at the elbows and in the post.
However, Hill’s defensive acumen is the main reason general manager Koby Altman and his staff targeted him in this trade. Calling Cleveland’s defense bad through this point in the season is an insult to dumpster fires everywhere; Hill’s arrival should change that in a dramatic way, both through his actual effect on opposing guards and his ability to raise the rest of the team to his level on that end. James has famously been completely checked out for most of the season, but with a new supporting cast, the James we’re used to seeing dominate on both ends of the floor should return.
Beyond what he’ll do for the defensive culture (or lack thereof) in Cleveland this season, Hill’s 6-foot-9 wingspan allows him to bounce between both guard positions and be a good defender against bigger players on a switch or helping down into the paint on pick-and-rolls. Hill certainly won’t be a worry in a potential NBA Finals series against the Golden State Warriors, as he’ll have no trouble staying on the floor defensively, as Thomas would have.
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It will be difficult to differentiate between the acquisition of Hill and the other aspects of their new roster, but Cleveland undoubtedly got better for this season’s playoff push and put themselves in a much better position to retain James in the summer, when he’ll likely be a free agent. If James doesn’t return, the Cavaliers are in a tough financial spot with Hill’s contract and their other commitments, but it’s clear that Altman and owner Dan Gilbert are all-in to show James they can put a good team around him, even if it means blowing up half the roster in the middle of the season when it’s clear things aren’t working.