By any metric, George Hill‘s tenure with the Sacramento Kings has been nothing short of a disaster. Hill signed a three-year, $57 million contract with the team this summer, and he’s having his worst statistical season since his rookie year, all while losing minutes to rookie point guards De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason. In fairness to Hill, he’s already missed two games with personal issues this season, and while we aren’t privy to what’s going on with Hill – nor should we be – that could be a factor in his on-court struggles this season.
When the Kings signed Hill, along with Zach Randolph and Vince Carter this offseason, it was under the assumption that these respected NBA veterans would aid in the development of the Kings’ young players. The Kings have 10 (ten!) players under rookie contracts, more than any other team in the NBA, and Hill, Randolph, and Carter, in theory, have plenty of experience and advice to pass down.
The Kings’ strategy here showed a notable philosophical shift when compared to how the organization handled DeMarcus Cousins’ development. During Cousins’ early years in Sacramento, the Kings didn’t have veterans like Hill, Carter, or Randolph to learn from, and Cousins would often cite the lack of leadership in the locker room as detrimental to his development as a player and person.
The Kings were trying to avoid that problem again, but according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune, there was a massive communication breakdown somewhere.
Tony Jones is reporting that during the Kings’ contract negotiations with Hill this summer, management promised Hill that they would be competing for a playoff spot this season.
The Kings brought in Hill, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter during the offseason and still have Garrett Temple on the roster. These are respected vets who can play. These are vets brought in to help a young team, and according to sources, were brought in with the promise of a team aiming to be playoff competitive.
But that promise was made to them by Scott Perry, who since left Sacramento and now makes personnel decisions for the New York Knicks. So the direction of the franchise has shifted since Perry left. An organization that brought in veterans aiming to win now is aiming to lose.
There is a lot to unpack here, so bear with me.
The Kings are 8-18 through the first two months of the NBA season. If you asked most NBA prognosticators, that is essentially where they should be when you compare their roster with the rest of the Western Conference. Any notion that the Kings’ roster is good enough to be competing for a playoff spot right now is asinine. If Hill was told this, he should have known better, but beyond that, this report doesn’t line up with anything the Kings have said publicly since the signings of Hill, Randolph, and Carter were announced.
Let’s get the Scott Perry issue out of the way first. The Kings hired veteran front office executive Scott Perry at the start of the 2017 offseason. Perry had an impressive run as a top-assistant in the Kings’ front office for the three months he was in Sacramento before the Knicks hired him away. The Knicks were offering him a pretty lucrative promotion to run the organization as the teams’ general manager, and most front office assistants would leave their current post for that kind of promotion.
In other words, Perry was never in charge of the front office in Sacramento. That position belongs to Vlade Divac, and a dramatic philosophical shift like this, when an assistant leaves your organization, is unheard of. Perry never had the power to make that reported playoff claim with any sort of conviction, and Perry’s departure shouldn’t have resulted in a complete change of direction for a franchise. It just doesn’t add up.
The Knicks hired Perry on July 13th. The Kings hosted introductory press conferences for Hill, Randolph, and Carter on July 10th, meaning Perry was technically still working for the team. In that introductory press conference, which you can find in its entirety below, everyone from Divac, to Randolph, to Carter, to Hill, made it pretty clear that they were brought in to help develop young talent. As easy as it is to criticize the Kings these days, it’s hard to understand how or why Hill would possibly think this roster was playoff competitive.
Don’t get me wrong, the Kings aren’t above poor communication. That has been one of their calling cards over the past several years, but their history also provides players and agents with an easy out if their player isn’t performing well. If something good happens, it’s despite the Kings, and if something bad happens, it’s because the Kings are a mess. And hey, the Kings earned that reputation. They have nobody to blame but themselves in that regard, but it’s worth noting that things aren’t always as they appear, or in this case, as they are reported.
Here’s something else to consider: the Kings don’t own the rights to their first round draft pick in 2019. That means their only opportunity to land a potential franchise cornerstone over the next two years is in the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft. For the good of their long-term future, they need to lose this season. Nothing points towards pushing for the playoffs as being the optimal goal for the Kings this year. Losing was not only inevitable considering the roster they put together this summer, but it’s also the right play. Where all of this broke down for George Hill is hard to understand.
Regardless of what the real story is, one thing has become abundantly clear over the last several weeks. The George Hill signing in Sacramento isn’t working, and at this point, it probably makes the most sense for both parties to move on.
