2017 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
George Hill: 3 years, $57 million (Sacramento Kings)
Free agent George Hill has reached agreement on a three-year, $57M deal with the Sacramento Kings, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 4, 2017
The Sacramento Kings need a culture change more than any team in the NBA. One man won’t change it overnight, but having a veteran point guard to help along rookies De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason III is a great idea.
On a manageable three-year, $57 million deal identical to Jeff Teague’s contract, Hill gets his payday and will be able to play either the 1 or the 2 alongside Fox and/or Buddy Hield in the backcourt. There are injury concerns and some positional overlap there, but as long as the Kings aren’t under the impression they’re a playoff team in the West, there should still be plenty of minutes to go around. Even if Hill does get hurt again, the youngsters will absorb all the playing time anyway.
Sacramento still doesn’t have an undisputed franchise star, and this addition could improve their team enough to hurt next year’s draft standing. But the Kings have been bad long enough. It’s time to start re-establishing Sac-Town as a place free agents actually want to go, and this signing is the first step in that direction.
Bourguet Grade: B+