Jordan Hill has found his third NBA home in as many seasons. The Minnesota Timberwolves and the veteran forward agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract on Wednesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Hill, 28, spent last season with the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 8.8 and 6.2 rebounds per game as a backup behind Myles Turner and Ian Mahinmi.
While Hill was a productive member of the rotation for most of the year, his minutes evaporated down the stretch. Former Pacers coach Frank Vogel played Hill only 15 total minutes in Indiana's first-round series loss to the Toronto Raptors and didn't play him at all in five of the team's final seven regular-season contests.
Vogel struggled to find Hill minutes behind Turner and Mahinmi, reverting to small ball with Solomon Hill as the nominal 4 when either big needed a blow. New Pacers coach Nate McMillan seemed to indicate that the team would be making a more concerted push to an uptempo style.
“Yeah, OK. We can play that,” McMillan said, per Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. “It’s fun, it’s exciting. That’s the way I played. I want to get up and down. I want to go and I want to defend and, excuse me, but I want to get all up on yo' (tail), and we want to play. I want to do that.”
That all but sealed Hill's fate. Never a star-level talent matching his lottery promise (No. 8 pick in 2009), Hill has found a role everywhere he's been in the NBA. He's a tough defender and a good rebounder, using his length and athleticism to make plays near the basket. There are few better pick-and-roll runners available than Hill at this price.
Defense has never been Hill's specialty, and he's not a floor-spacer. Calling him a forward in today's NBA might be an exaggeration. He's more of an undersized center who can occasionally make a few plays out of the high post.
Still, a team can do a lot worse at this price range. The NBA's massive influx of cap space after the new television deal means guys like Hill and other mid-tier veterans were bound to be overpaid. The Timberwolves took advantage of Hill's falling out of the rotation in Indiana and got what could look like a real bargain once everything shakes out.
In Minnesota, he'll find himself down the pecking order a bit behind superstar Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng. But there are minutes off the bench to be had in the frontcourt for Minnesota, and Hill could establish himself as a nice piece in the rotation.
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