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.
How does George Hill fit with the Milwaukee Bucks this time around?
Hill’s role should remain relatively unchanged from his first stint with the Bucks, as he’ll provide solid and reliable backup point guard minutes.
He may be asked to take on a bit more early in the season with Holiday coming off a deep playoff run and now an Olympic stint. Hill did play over 26 minutes a game in his 14 games with the Thunder last season, so he is still very much capable of taking on a larger workload in shorter spurts. In those 14 games, Hill posted some of his best numbers since 2017 with 11.8 points and 3.1 assists per game and shot 38.6 percent from 3 point range.
At 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, Hill is more than capable of playing in two-guard lineups, which should unlock some things for head coach Mike Budenholzer being able to play both Hill and Holiday together for stretches. Offensively, it would be a little unfair to expect Hill to shoot at the 46 percent clip he did in his last season with the Bucks. However, he shot 38.8 percent overall last season and should get even better looks with Milwaukee as opposed to the ones he had gotten in Oklahoma City and Philadelphia. There’s still some juice in his shooting and, aside from a bad stint with Philly, he doesn’t turn the ball over frequently.
Even at his age, Hill will still be able to provide reliable ballhandling, above average 3 point shooting, and the versatility to allow the Bucks to play him in different lineups. Going from Jeff Teague to George Hill is definitely an upgrade.
What is the grade for the Milwaukee Bucks’ signing of George Hill?
The grade here for the Bucks really does depend on the financial terms of the contract. For now, I’ll go with the assumption that it’s another minimum deal from general manager Jon Horst because anything else would be a D letter grade.
There really isn’t much to not like about this signing, honestly. Hill already has experience playing with the core of this team, has a knowledge of what Budenholzer wants to do with his offense and defense, and is just an overall upgrade from what the Bucks had last season. While Augustin and Teague never quite panned out, Hill provides much more upside from the jump.
Of course, fans were clamoring for a bigger name backup point guard like Patty Mills to fill the team’s backup point guard hole, but this is probably the best choice for the minimum-level backup options. Even if he has lost a step or two (based purely on his brief Sixers tenure), he’ll still provide good shooting and a low turnover rate which is about all you can from a backup point guard.
The last remaining need on the Bucks roster is a more capable wing off the bench, and if they still have their taxpayer mid-level exception, they’ll still have room to add that piece to their roster. While it may have been messy at times, this has been a solid offseason for the defending champs so far, and Hill is just the latest signing to help solidify that.