Pacers have traded this pick to the Spurs for George Hill sources say

[elemento]

We would be thin at point guard with or without Hill simply because he isn't a PG.

Considering the fact that he wants 7.5m/year i'd say it's a huge victory for us. He is not worth this kind of money at all.

[TJastal]

We would be thin at point guard with or without Hill simply because he isn't a PG.

Considering the fact that he wants 7.5m/year i'd say it's a huge victory for us. He is not worth this kind of money at all.

Agree.

At this point Hill is still showing the same inconsistencies in Indiana that plagued him as a spur. I would have never guessed he was going to demand that kind of loot, and be stupid enough to turn down the 6m / yr offer from the pacers. While it remains to be seen how he performs in the playoffs, I'm satisfied the spurs dumped him before all that happened.

And acquired a top 5 rookie too boot.

At a position of desperate need.

Plus a couple of future prospects which could have impacts down the line.

That was certainly a master coup conducted by Pop/RC.

[Obstructed_View]

We would be thin at point guard with or without Hill simply because he isn't a PG.

Considering the fact that he wants 7.5m/year i'd say it's a huge victory for us. He is not worth this kind of money at all.

Point is, even with the loss of TJ Ford, Manu missing time and the lack of production from Cory Joseph, nobody is in here saying "lol should have kept Hill". That's how huge a win that trade was for the Spurs, and that doesn't even take the other elements of the trade into account.

[DesignatedT]

Exactly. Even if it was a straight up swap (Kawhi for George) and RJ was still on the roster the move would still help the Spurs in the future and NOW.

It's not like the trade only turned out well because we got rid of RJ. Great trade.

[FkLA]

What had Hill really established?

That he had peaked below expectations?

That's an argument for trading for someone who hasn't yet.

He brought alot to the table, even if he had kind of peaked. Although not an elite defender he was still the teams best and most versatile defender out in the perimeter. He also had the best all-around offensive game on the team outside of the Big 3. In short he was a very good role player. I dont think anyone realistically expected Leonard to match the impact Hill had for the team much less surpass it as a rookie.

The argument couldve been made if youre looking towards the future, not the present. Very good role player for unproven rookie usually isnt a good move for an older team still looking to contend. Again, Leonard just went against the norm cause hes a stud.

[DesignatedT]

Exactly. Even if it was a straight up swap (Kawhi for George) and RJ was still on the roster the move would still help the Spurs in the future and NOW.

It's not like the trade only turned out well because we got rid of RJ. Great trade.

[ChumpDumper]

He brought alot to the table, even if he had kind of peaked. Although not an elite defender he was still the teams best and most versatile defender out in the perimeter. He also had the best all-around offensive game on the team outside of the Big 3. In short he was a very good role player. I dont think anyone realistically expected Leonard to match the impact Hill had for the team much less surpass it as a rookie.

The argument couldve been made if youre looking towards the future, not the present. Very good role player for unproven rookie usually isnt a good move for an older team still looking to contend. Again, Leonard just went against the norm cause hes a stud.

Man, you are shifting prevailing wind patterns with all this spin. Hill had peaked and was easily replaced.

[MaNu4Tres]

He brought alot to the table, even if he had kind of peaked. Although not an elite defender he was still the teams best and most versatile defender out in the perimeter. He also had the best all-around offensive game on the team outside of the Big 3. In short he was a very good role player. I dont think anyone realistically expected Leonard to match the impact Hill had for the team much less surpass it as a rookie.

The argument couldve been made if youre looking towards the future, not the present. Very good role player for unproven rookie usually isnt a good move for an older team still looking to contend. Again, Leonard just went against the norm cause hes a stud.

The gap between Hill and the players below him (Neal most notably, Green/Anderson) was not significant in terms of offensive output and production last year. (Whenever Green and Anderson got minutes they produced respectably.) Add that fact, with the fact that Spurs opened up minutes for more capable defenders Green and Leonard (due to their physical attributes), Spurs weren't losing anything on the defensive end either. It was a move that clearly helped now and for the future with or without R.J.

To be exact, this is what I said when the trade went down:
(subs ute Anderson for Green-- with Hill gone it opened up minutes for the winner of their compe ion for the rotation spot-- who most people thought it would be Anderson, including me.)

I get this point you are trying to make but I don't agree with your implication that it's a relevant issue when the Spurs have NBA proven players in Neal and Anderson ready and more than capable to fill in the void at the SG spot (where Hill played 80% of his minutes).

Spurs won't lose much if at all with Hill being gone from an offensive perspective because of Neal and Anderson deserving and worthy of more minutes and being just as good or better shooters than Hill (Hill was more of a spot up shooter than anything else). Hill was expendable, even if he was a rotation player last year.

That being said, I don't see this team taking a step back from offensive perspective with Hill being gone (Spurs have a lot of weapons outside of Neal/Anderson as well). Furthermore, the Spurs improved from a defensive perspective as they drafted the best small forward in the draft that happens to be very defensive oriented and gifted (6'7" frame- 7'3" wingspan). And at the same time, the move allows Anderson to get quality burn now-- who is a damn good defender and has to size to guard wings more effectively.

Last year, the Spurs used Neal and Hill quite often at the 2/3 spot behind the Jefferson-Ginobili-Parker starting lineup. Neal and Hill were asked and forced to guard long 2's and 3's quite often and their size was a glaring weakness from a defensive perspective (Sam Young, Vasquez, Allen had a field day in the first round). With this move, Spurs now have minutes available to integrate wings w/ size (Leonard/Anderson) into the rotation. And they still have Neal in their arsenal as well.

I don't see how this sets the Spurs back for now or for the future. If Spurs traded Hill for a questionable late first rounder ( Jimmy Butler) and didn't have quality depth at the two spot (Neal/Anderson) then I'd agree with you. But that is simply not the case. IMO

Hear explaining to people who said the trade had no direction:

It helps the defense now at the expense of an expendable player. How much will he help? That is up to him, being injury free, Pop and the future or play of RJ (worst case scenario w/ R.J, Leonard will see 15-20 minutes of action a night if he stays healthy).

It helps the future in that it gives the Spurs the best small forward prospect in the draft for the next 4-5 years on a very cheap salary. Something Hill wasn't going to be able to provide, not even from the back up sg/pg spot due to his contract being up after next year.

It's a win/win from both perspectives considering perimeter and interior defense was a major weakness (Leonard will help both). And also considering Spurs won't have a hard time finding a replacement for Hill's production having Neal and Anderson in the fold.

My response to people saying Spurs should have considered paying Hill because he was their best young prospect.

Answer me this..

Do you think it's smart basketball business to pay a back up combo/guard 6-7 million per year, when you already have an All-Star point guard demanding 33-35 minutes a night making 12.5 million per year?

At the same time, do you think it's smart to pay a back up SG 6-7 million per year, when you already have two quality back up's in Anderson and Neal for 1/6th of that 6-7 million price tag?

Hill didn't and doesn't have a future here from a common sense perspective if Parker is here. That has to do with Parker, the draft of Anderson and the coming out party of Neal last year. It just didn't make sense, unless Spurs thought of Hill as Manu's replacement at the SG position, which they obviously didn't considering his size. Which is totally understandable.

Response to "Spurs traded their 4th best player".
(Again sub Green for Anderson)

Because the gap between the 4th best player (Hill) and Neal/Anderson wasn't and isn't significant. Neal and Anderson are more than capable to fill in the void left by Hill on both ends.

And how do you know Leonard won't have an impact? He only happened to be the best small forward prospect in the entire draft (a position of weakness the past 3 years). And he only happens to fit the skill-set of a player that the Spurs have needed ever since Bowen retired. If you watched any games last year, Spurs were physically out manned on the perimeter at the expense of Hill and Neal playing out of their positions (SF/SG).

Next year, with Leonard and the freeing up of playing time for Anderson, the Spurs instantly improve their perimeter defense. At the same time, Leonard and Anderson will help the interior defense-- given their size and superior physicality. Not saying they will be playing the 4 obviously, but they will be able to lend the bigs a significant helping hand considering their length and size-- rotating over and getting a hand up to contest off the ball. Or shoring up defensive possessions by limiting teams to one shot by their superior rebounding (Leonard) or by being able to put their big bodies on big 2-4's when blocking out.

Spurs won this trade.

Go Spurs Go.

[Obstructed_View]

I dont think anyone realistically expected Leonard to match the impact Hill had for the team much less surpass it as a rookie.

I don't really think Hill set the bar that high. The only real concern with drafting Leonard was that Pop might not give him enough burn to establish himself, though common sense told us Pop wouldn't have given up Hill if he wasn't prepared to do that.

[4down]

He's better than RJ.

Props to Sigz on this call.

[4down]

I hope they didn't give up the #29: I'd like to see the Spurs take a gamble on Isaiah Thomasthere.

FIFY

#hindsight #one game HOF'er

and at anyone who ever thought Hill would have been a suitable Parker replacement.

[MaNu4Tres]

Isaiah Thomas has been a pleasant surprise for Sacramento. Reminds me of a lesser version of Nick Van Exel mixed in with Avery Johnson.

Good steal with the last pick of the draft.

[Mel_13]

Draft time favorite Chris Singleton was recently in the news for buying $10,000 worth of lottery tickets for the Mega Millions. This tweet just popped up:

Chris Singleton was asked if spending $10K on lottery tix was a wise investment: "Either that, or blow it in the club."

http://twitter.com/#!/MrMichaelLee

[DPG21920]

what a dumb thing to say

[benefactor]

Don't let mono or DoK read that.

[elemento]

Chris Singleton is the typical NBA player that will be broke fast after he retires. Thank god we didn't get this moron instead of Leonard. Not only he is dumb, but he also sucks.

I remember someone in ST constantly ing because we took Leonard over Singleton ? You guys remember who ?

[SenorSpur]

The real value of this trade, that the Spurs pulled off, will be the found, not just in the upward surge in Leonard's development, but also with how Lorbek and Bertans work out. This has the potential to be a huge get for the Spurs.

[Brazil]

I was referencing what Brazil said about your statement regarding the move being strictly financial. At the time I think your were right. The Spurs knew that Hill wasn't in the plans for the future and didn't want to pay him...so the rolled the dice on a good prospect...one they had scouted out well(though no one found out about that until later). No one could have called what happened with RJ. Heck, someone in another thread even put the RJ/Buckets trade up and said, "Since we are dreaming..."

Exactly. Same with the RJ trade. It was financial and I firmly believe they would make the move regardless of who they got back. The fact they brought in Jax as the guy and he's turned out to be a good fit overall is just a bonus. Not that it takes away from the fact they improved the team, but it wasn't purely a basketball move, it was easily mainly a financial one that had the bonus of being a positive basketball wise.

The gambles to save money and improve at the same time came up Ace's so far and that's awesome.

I disagree with that tbh fwiw.

I don't think this trade was purely financial. We had some depth at SG spot and nothing at SF so the move was also and primary to balance the roster and to prepare the after RJ. I do think Spurs were high on Leonard and they hoped he could bring something right away. Chuck was thinking Leonard was a starter maybe so do the Spurs. Leonard didn't get the usual pop rookie treatment and get some good minutes quickly.

[TJastal]

Draft time favorite Chris Singleton was recently in the news for buying $10,000 worth of lottery tickets for the Mega Millions. This tweet just popped up:

Chris Singleton was asked if spending $10K on lottery tix was a wise investment: "Either that, or blow it in the club."

http://twitter.com/#!/MrMichaelLee

I wonder how long it must've taken some poor cashier to check all those lotto numbers.

[TJastal]

Chris Singleton is the typical NBA player that will be broke fast after he retires. Thank god we didn't get this moron instead of Leonard. Not only he is dumb, but he also sucks.

I remember someone in ST constantly ing because we took Leonard over Singleton ? You guys remember who ?

So has anyone ever had a productive career playing for the washington wizards? Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see Singleton's career take off once he is traded from that worthless franchise.

I'll agree Leonard is having the bigger impact so far this year, and probably fits what the spurs needed better since they acquired Jax and Diaw. Singleton is a different type of player, more athletic, taller & stronger. He would have given the spurs a different dimension but I think Leonard is the more versatile player.

You act like you've never been wrong before. Everybody has been wrong about something on this forum before.

[Blake]

Don't know why they took Leonard over Singleton. Anyone have any idea?

lol

[freetiago]

Imagine how good we would be if we were able to resign George after trading him

[rjv]

1) Kyrie Irving

2) Derrick Williams

3) Enes Kanter

4) Tristan Thompson

5) Jonas Valanciunas

6) Jan Vesely

7) Bismack Biyombo

8) Brandon Knight

9) Kemba Walker

10) Jimmer Fredette

11) Klay Thompson

12) Alec Burks

13) Markieff Morris

14) Marcus Morris

15) Kahwi Leonard

29) Cory Joseph

[Nathan89]

15) Kahwi Leonard

29) Cory Joseph

We drafted two starters in one draft.

[Seventyniner]

Kawhi could very well end up as the second-best player in that whole draft. Amazing.