Chicago Bulls way too early free agent talk: George Hill

For all but the few very best teams in the NBA, the 2016-17 season is over and the offseason is well underway. We’ve still got several weeks before free agency, but the Chicago Bulls could be a team in need and there are plenty of options. Today, it’s George Hill in our sights.

It’s tempting to think that the 41-41 Bulls should just run it back. John Paxson and Gar Forman have lofty ambitions to reach as high as the seventh seed next year with their current roster. In effort to achieve their goals, they seem committed to bring back Rajon Rondo with his team option for $13.4 million.

I wrote about the salary cap and Chicago’s tricky situation. If they end up with Dwyane Wade opting in and pick up Rondo’s deal, they’ll have less than $16 million in cap room to work with and a handful of restricted free agents on which to make decisions.

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If there’s one spot where the Bulls need help, it’s their entire roster sans Jimmy Butler. One of the bleakest spots on the roster is point guard. George Hill is a point guard and a free agent this summer.

Hill had a great run with the Utah Jazz this season, but it’s also totally possible that he’s run his course with the team. They were the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket this season. After capitalizing on yet another unfortunate Blake Griffin injury, they advanced to the second round where they were promptly swept by the Golden State Warriors. They were also forced to play a few of these games without Hill, who picked up a toe injury and missed the final three games of the series.

In 49 regular season games, he averaged 16.9 points, 4.1 assists, and one steal per game. He played more than 30 minutes per game during that time. The points per game were a career high and his assist numbers were well above his career average. Hill’s numbers, and Utah’s improved play, indicated that he was a good fit.

Why might he be available? The Los Angeles Clippers might opt to keep Chris Paul. Just within the last week, Dejounte Murray has emerged as the heir-apparent to the injured Tony Parker in San Antonio. Kyle Lowry figures to be a higher-profile target for teams with money than Hill. And then there’s the issue of Gordon Hayward.

Hayward is very good and a much higher priority than Hill. And there isn’t anything certain about his future with the Jazz. If Hayward is gone, would Hill even want to return to a team that relied on the heroics of Hayward to turn a complete dismantling into a respectable sweep.

So yes, there’s plenty of reason to think that Hill might be on the move this summer and there’s a huge need in Chicago.

Gar will never tell you this, but the point guard options he and Paxson of assembled are very bad. In layman’s terms they suck. Michael Carter-Williams is an RFA and should be allowed to walk immediately this summer. The non-guaranteed contract of Isaiah Canaan needs to away. Bringing back Rondo is a bad choice, he’s not making you significantly better or worse. And that $13.4 million could be used in so many ways if everything else falls into place.

In fact, they would have to let MCW go and let Rondo go and probably let Mirotic go to make a large dollar offer to any free agent, including Hill.

And that doesn’t even figure in Jerian Grant, who’s not a point guard of starting repute at this stage of his career.

So yeah, Hill would be a wonderful upgrade over probably every single option currently on the roster. If Gar really wants to continue his already successful tenure at the helm in Chicago, he’s going to need an upgrade at point guard and he’ll need it soon.

The more you stare at the current Bulls roster and tempt yourself to believe Paxson and Forman when they say that they are bringing Rondo back, the more you wish they could get a guy like Hill. If they really refuse to dip into the lottery, they have no choice but to win now. Hill is an affordable option that could help them do just that.

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