New Orleans Pelicans new addition: Solomon Hill
By Rory Callais
It is reasonable to assume that Hill is now a Pelican because of his defensive game. After years of a revolving door at the small forward position, many Pelicans fans breathed a sigh of relief on Friday that the team will finally have a solid defender on the wing (the injured Quincy Pondexter notwithstanding).
As fans painfully witnessed last season, horrendous perimeter defense is not insignificant. The injured Evans and recovering Holiday could only do so much, and Eric Gordon wasn’t chasing down anyone. This led to subpar defensive seasons from both Davis and Omer Asik as the Pelicans’ big men had to worry about threats from both the perimeter and the paint.
No more. Even with concerns about Hield’s defensive game, Holiday and Hill will provide more than adequate perimeter defense, which will allow Davis to return to his roving, ball-swatting ways and allow Asik to be the anchor of a good defense. That’s right: Solomon Hill will Make Asik Great Again.
Editor’s note: Time to get those exceedingly boring hats made.
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If assistant coach/de facto defensive coordinator Darren Erman could create a perimeter defender in a lab, the result would look a lot like Solomon Hill. “Hard working” and “high IQ” are only the beginning. Hill is also extremely versatile, able to defend guards, forwards, and undersized centers alike. While he may struggle against bigger men and true power forwards, he can more than hold his own against stretch four/fives and second unit big men. Again, per Lowe’s scouting report:
"He toggled from Patrick Patterson to DeMar DeRozan in the first round, and guarded everyone from Draymond Green to Russell Westbrook in the regular season. He’s solid against perimeter players, strong and generally in tune both on and off the ball."
Hill is a smart, tough, unselfish and hard working defender. Anyone who watched even a single Pelicans game last season could see why those traits led to Hill’s lucrative contract. Davis and Asik ensure that Hill will rarely have to guard traditional big men, and Hill will lock down the wing behind Holiday (while also providing more than enough coverage to hide any of Hield’s defensive shortcomings).
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Is Solomon Hill perfect? Nope. Are his numbers impressive? Nope. Is he going to get a lot of Twitter love? Nope. But considering the necessary cog he could be for the Pelicans on both sides the ball — along with his ability to play either forward position — his four-year/$52 million contract suddenly starts to approach “reasonable.” In this new salary cap world where an NBA fan can wake up to see Timofey Mosgov is making more money than Steph Curry, $13 million a year is a small price to pay for a guy who provides exactly what a team needs.