Milwaukee Bucks: Grades for George Hill’s one-year deal to return
The Milwaukee Bucks are bringing back an old friend!
First reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania Tuesday night, George Hill will be signing with the team after he clears waivers following a brief stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. He is their fourth signing throughout free agency thus far and the third player that wasn’t on the team last season, with Bobby Portis being the lone exception.
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Hill spent a season and a half with the Bucks from 2018-2020, playing high-level basketball in 106 regular season games and 25 playoff games with the team. He split last year playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers.
For his career, the 35-year-old guard has played 13 NBA seasons with eight teams. In that time, he’s averaged 11 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game and is a career 38.4 percent 3 point shooter (3.2 attempts per game).
Adding a backup point guard was the Bucks’ most glaring need since Hill was involved in the trade package for Jrue Holiday last offseason. Between D.J. Augustin and Jeff Teague, the Bucks were never able to get truly reliable point guard play, and although they managed to win the title, it was something that needed to be addressed. Now the role is being filled by the one who left it vacant.
What is the financial value of signing George Hill for the Milwaukee Bucks?
There has yet to be a report of what the terms of this signing are, so let’s explore both avenues.
The best-case scenario for the Bucks is that it’s another minimum contract like what Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood signed for. This would leave their $ 5.9 million taxpayer mid-level exception still untouched and able to be used to sign a better wing player for that money. The other scenario is they used some of the exception to pay Hill, leaving them with fewer dollars to go out and bring in one of the bigger named free agents that are still available.
I would be truly shocked if they went into the exception for this signing. No offense to Hill, but he’s 35 years old and is coming off a less than stellar stint with the Sixers. He was a solid backup guard for the Bucks in his first tenure with the franchise, but being anything more than a minimum deal would be an overpay.