New Orleans Pelicans new addition: Solomon Hill
By Rory Callais
Hill’s 4.2 PPG last season is the perfect fodder for an angry tweet, but it hardly tells the whole story of his 2015-16 campaign. First of all, Hill went into last season knowing his minutes would be reduced due to the Pacers’ logjam on the perimeter. He became the odd man out on the court, as well as with the front office, when the Pacers declined Hill’s 2016-17 team option in the first weeks of the season.
Finding himself in the awkward situation of being out of his team’s long term plans yet unable to get significant minutes on the floor to prove himself to future suitors, Hill struggled for most of the 2015-16 season. However, Hill put the pieces together at the right time, averaging 12.1 PPG in the final month of the season and 7.7 PPG during Indiana’s seven game playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
While Hill has been on Dell Demps’ radar for some time, it is likely that playoff series that made Hill a multimillionaire on the first day of free agency. In seven games, Hill posted a .452 field goal percentage while shooting .579 from behind the arc and only turning the ball over three times in the entire series. It may be a stretch to call Hill a sharpshooter, but he has shown he is capable of handling the “3” part of being a “3&D” guy, particularly in big moments.
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Hill’s individual numbers aren’t earth-shattering, but when he’s sharing the floor with Davis, Holiday, and Hield, he will be there to set up others and be a fourth option (or fifth should he slide to power forward in a small ball rotation). Consider this quote from ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s pre-free agency scouting report:
"He has an NBA-level feel — a sense of rhythm, timing and vision that is hard to teach. Defenders sagged way off him to clog Indiana’s already cloggy offense, but when they rushed back to close out on him, Hill sauntered by them with herky-jerky drives that often ended in slick interior passes."
After a half decade of Monty Williams’ plodding offense and coming off an injury-riddled season that saw the Pelicans fail to live up to Gentry’s offensive promise, that should be music to the ears of many Pelicans fans. Hill can draw defenders and open up lanes for Davis or Hield, but he can also finish at the rim if necessary. Hill’s jumper is spotty and he has yet to prove himself as a legitimate three-point threat, but he has all the tools necessary to be an effective wing in the Pelicans offense.
One last note: the one season that saw Hill get starter minutes at small forward — 2014-15 — he posted a much more palpable 8.9 PPG and 2.2 assists. Still not earth-shattering, but in Gentry’s high-flying offense featuring Davis and Hield, Hill will not be asked to contribute much more than that.
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