Free Agent Target: Jordan Hill

If on the odd chance the Atlanta Hawks are not able to re-sign Paul Millsap and have to resort to Plan B, it won’t be smooth sailing. Plan B in the summer of 2015 means acquiring above average but not great talent once you get past the max salaries of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love and Marc Gasol. The pickings are slim. Greg Monroe is a 6-11 double, double machine who may have played his last game for the Detroit Pistons. Brandon Bass is a 6-8 mid-range shooter who played last year in Boston. Amir Johnson, a limited offensive talent who is 6-9 but grabs 9 rebounds a game, has been to the playoffs two years in a row with the Toronto Raptors. And there is Jordan Hill.

Jordan Hill was someone the Hawks inquired about at the trading deadline. The Lakers decided to hang on to him, not liking what was offered in return and now his status is up in the air. All signs point to the Lakers not picking up the $9 million dollar team option on Hill. It makes all the sense in the world. The Lakers have the #2 pick in the NBA draft and are expected to draft one of the 7-footers, either Karl Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. Either player makes Jordan Hill and his $9 million dollars expendable. Hill will be on the move, searching for another team.

Mar 29, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Jordan Hill (27) shoots over Brooklyn Nets center Mason Plumlee (1) during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Hill is a 6-10 power forward who can play center when asked. He was a lottery pick who played his college ball in Arizona and was drafted by the New York Knicks. Then, the Knicks were coached by Mike D’antoni who has a reputation for disregarding post players. He never liked Jordan Hill and let Hill know it. D’antoni once called Hill “a bad rookie” and by February he was traded to the Houston Rockets. Two years later, the Rockets traded Hill in a three team deal which landed Hill in Los Angeles.

Before this past season started, Hill confessed he gave up alcohol. His renewed intensity and maturity included taking care of his body and it all paid off. Hill averaged a career high in points, rebounds, assists and minutes. He’s not much of a three point shooter but he makes up for it by what he does on the glass. This year, he pulled down 8 rebounds and his defense in the paint is solid but like Millsap, he’s not particularly explosive. Also like Millsap, he plays with a toughness in the paint.

2 Point Shots: 46%
0-3 feet: 69%
3-10 feet: 40%
10-16 feet: 34%
Long 2’s: 40%
Three Point Shots: 27%

Jordan Hill came to the NBA as a survivor, as someone who had intimately known suffering. His mother Carol died of cancer when Hill was three years old and frankly, he has never overcome the devastation of it. There would be other ripples in his life that played like tornadoes. He changed households numerous times and not surprisingly struggled from childhood through adolescence through adulthood. His brother was shot. His cousin was murdered. He was born in South Carolina but graduated from high school in Atlanta.

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On draft day, Jordan Hill was selected by the New York Knicks. He was taken one pick after Steph Curry and the entire Madison Square Garden crowd booed him relentlessly. It only worsened as the regular season started. Hill was not a starter and Curry was. So was the player picked after Jordan Hill at #10, Brandon Jennings. The best thing that happened to Jordan Hill was being traded away from the Knicks and eventually landing with the Lakers and always being in the spotlight, always being the center of gravity. But when he was reunited with Mike D’antoni again, it was another horror show, a disaster. D’antoni was even less forgiving of Hill’s post game then he was the first time. It’s not a surprise that after D’antoni left the Lakers Jordan Hill had his best numbers as a pro: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 26 minutes a game.

Is Jordan Hill another Paul Millsap? Yes. And no. He rebounds with the same energy and intensity as Millsap. He is just as focused. He is dedicated. But he isn’t as versatile on the offensive end. His defense is a shade better than Millsap’s.

But, replacing Millsap, if it comes to that- and most hope it does not- will not be easy. It’s hard to get a ferocious rebounder who can make threes and score in the paint. Jordan Hill can be a streaky mid-range shooter and have nights where everything goes in and nights when he struggles to make shots.

There is a talent for hard work, an ethic for digging in and giving the game all that you have that is a part of Jordan Hill, just as his mother’s death is a part of Jordan Hill, just as having to earn what he has been given is a part of Jordan Hill.

He works out in the summer in Atlanta. If certain things fall into place, Atlanta may be where Jordan Hill lives year round.

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