Grant Hill agreed to sign with the Phoenix Suns today. I am very happy about this for the Suns. I know he is 34 years old, injury prone and he is not the answer to the Spurs, but I like it for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it's about time something went right for the Suns this off-season. It's been one bad news after the other in the valley of the Sun ever since the Commish chose to stand behind a stupid rule instead of his common sense and suspend Amare and Diaw. Here's the complete list.
1) Atlanta defies odds and gets the third pick to deny the Suns a top pick in this draft that was top-3 protected.
2) Suns are rumored in all kinds of KG trades, but they are not even close to getting him.
3) Suns tried to trade into the top 10 this draft, but Charlotte pulls out in the last minute in favor of a better offer they got from Golden State.
4) Golden State also picks Marco Benelli who the Suns wanted to pick at 24.
So finally they get a man they want, and thats saying something. I personally like Grant Hill a lot, but who doesn't? He brings a lot of class, leadership and work ethic to the table. The Suns don't need a whole lot of all this with guys like Nash on the roster, but you can never have enough character guys on your team. But all these intangibles apart, I like this signing for basketball reasons too. Grant Hill may not be a great fit for the run and gun at this age, but the guy can still ball. He is coming off a healthy year for the first time in many years and he can do one thing the Suns desperately need. Another guy who can create his own shot. This was the greatest blow to the Suns when Joe Johnson left. They don't have that creator on the wing and their offense is completely dependent on Nash, Amare and the run and gun. Good defensive teams like our friends down there in San Antonio know how to take the top 2 or 3 things away from you and thats exactly why the Suns keep losing to the Spurs. They turn off your fast-breaks and also bolt down Nash. Suns are done right there.
Yeah, Diaw can do his thing if he has a small guy on him and LB can drive to the hoop on anybody, but Grant Hill definitely gives another dependable dimension to the offense. Also, he is a pass-first team player who will fit perfectly here. The Suns are hoping he can run the team when Nash is on the bench. He sure can settle things down for the sometimes out of control Barbosa. To me this would be a bonus. I would take Hill just for what he can do in the half-court with Nash and Amare around. We don't have to hold our breath every time Raja Bell or James Jones put the ball on the floor. I feel like Hill can do some damage for 5 to 10 possessions a game and I'll take that for 1.83 mill a year.
I know some Suns fans are upset that this is just another signing of a over-the-hill (no pun intended), injury prone super-star, but seriously, what are you going to get for less than 2 mill these days? Remember 2 years back we were all chasing Finley and he signed with the Spurs? I am happy that Hill at least didn't go to another contender and ended up here with the Suns. How shitty would we be feeling today if he chose the Spurs over the Suns? Also some fans seem to think this is just another Jalen Rose signing. Thats one fear I do share. I would totally agree with the criticism of Mike D'Antoni that he doesn't know how to use his bench. . I still don't think Jalen Rose is that bad or useless. I blame Mike D'Antoni for not even giving him a shot. It's kind of scary how similar Jalen's and Hill's numbers are at this point in their career, including their body types (6'8" and 225 pounds)! I sure hope their Suns career don't end up the same way. With all that said, I still think D'Antoni would give a much fairer shot to Grant Hill just because of who he is and how much crap Mike has taken for not using his bench last season. Plus, i think Hill's decision making on the court will impress Mike a lot more.
Of course all of this is contingent upon Grant Hill staying healthy, which is a BIG question mark. One of the web sites even joked with this headline - "Grant Hill signs with the Phoenix Suns for 2 years of injuries". It would put a tear in your eye if you look at what the Orlando Magic got from this guy for 7 years and 93 million dollars. And thats just if you are a normal NBA fan. I can't even begin to think how bad you'll feel if you are die-hard Magic fan. These are the number of games he played over his 7 years there.
2000-2001 - 4 games
2001-2002 - 14 games
2002-2003 - 29 games
2003-2004 - 0 games
2004-2005 - 67 games
2005-2006 - 21 games
2006-2007 - 65 games
This is so ugly that Hill actually seriously considered playing for the Magic for cheap just to make up for the 93 mill he inadvertently stole from them. Hill is so much class and he worked so hard to rehab from all those injuries that even Magic fans don't bad mouth this guy. Hopefully those days are behind him for good.
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