2017 NBA free agency: 5 players to stay away from
2. George Hill
George Hill is becoming a favorite of many fans around the league and rightfully so. He’s coming off a career season, averaging 16.9 points per game and shooting 40.3 percent from the three-point line.
The unfortunate thing is that this aging point guard is unable to stay on the floor due to a growing amount of injury concerns.
Last season alone, he missed time due to a sore thumb, sore toe, concussion, toe soreness again and a groin strain.
Injury History last three years
| DATE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| 05/04/2017 | Sore Toe |
| 03/29/2017 | Groin Strain |
| 03/06/2017 | Toe Soreness |
| 01/01/2017 | Concussion |
| 12/01/2016 | Sore Toe |
| 11/07/2016 | Sore Thumb |
| 01/19/2016 | Personal |
| 01/04/2016 | Food Poisoning |
| 11/16/2015 | Upper Respiratory Infection |
| 01/28/2015 | Groin |
| 01/02/2015 | Strained Left Groin |
| 10/27/2014 | Left Knee Contusion |
| 02/28/2014 | Bruised Shoulder |
Via Foxsports.com
Then, in the playoffs, he missed time due to, you guessed it, a sore toe. For those of you counting at home, Hill was forced to miss time on three separate occasions over the course of six months because of his toe.
I’m no doctor, but I do believe that toes are a vital part to an NBA player’s success, especially as a point guard. All of your cuts, explosions and push-offs start with your toes.
Those injuries caused Hill to miss 33 regular season games and three playoff games. If his injuries were an isolated incident, it wouldn’t be as much of a concern. Unfortunately, Hill has missed 32 or more games in two of the past three years and three of the past six.
This means that any team who signs Hill will know going into the contract that he is likely to miss significant time for at least a couple of the years during his contract.
While Hill is a great shooter, he has his downfalls on the offensive end as well. He isn’t the best creator nor penetrator for his team. This means that whichever team he goes to will be best-served in having a secondary ball-handling option nearby who can create for himself and others.
Given that this will be Hill’s last time to cash in big in free agency, you can bet he will want four years and lots of money.