Report: Former Utah Jazz point guard George Hill “unhappy”

Reports continue to surface that former Utah Jazz point guard George Hill is unhappy with his current situation with the Sacramento Kings.

Say what you will about the way George Hill’s time with the Utah Jazz came to an end, but there’s no denying that he was tremendous when playing in a Jazz uniform. In many ways he had a career year as he was the team’s second leading scorer at a career-high 16.9 points per game while logging his second best field goal and three-point shooting marks of his career.

Of course, those promising figures came on just 49 played games due to the fact that Hill dealt with a seemingly constant onslaught of injuries last season that also happened to keep him out for the last three games of the postseason, much to the chagrin of several Jazz fans.

There’s almost no denying that Hill’s injury woes were one of several factors that prevented he and the Jazz from coming to terms to bring him back both at the extension deadline and heading into this summer’s free agency. Although Hill likely was expecting a heftier payday than what Utah was willing to offer, he ended up settling for what was probably the best he could have ended up getting by signing with the Sacramento Kings during the offseason for three years, $57 million (with $40 million guaranteed through two years).

Unfortunately for Hill, though, things haven’t exactly gone his way since leaving the Jazz, with whom he was an excellent fit, and joining the ranks of Sac-Town. Not only are his numbers down significantly – he’s averaging just 9.0 points and 23.5 minutes per game (the lowest marks since his rookie season) – but his Sacramento team has yet again been one of the league’s worst as they currently sit at a record of 8-18.

Their poor start has essentially already doomed their playoff chances in the deep Western Conference even at this early juncture of the season.

And that combination of woes – his poor play and that of his team as a whole – have reportedly led to a disgruntled George Hill. According to multiple sources, former Kings exec Scott Perry promised Hill that with the addition of him, Vince Carter and Zach Randolph, Sacramento would look to be competitive, but unfortunately for them, that just hasn’t been the case.

Here’s what Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune commented on the matter:

"“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.Not surprisingly, Hill isn’t happy, according to multiple sources.”"

That’s a bummer, to be sure, especially considering how promising Hill looked last season with the Utah Jazz. However, at the same time, if he truly thought the Kings were going to be competitive, I’m a bit concerned about his touch with reality. Although Randolph and Carter have enjoyed long and successful careers, they’re both well past their prime and the rest of the Kings roster is far from overwhelmingly talented.

In fact, more than anything they’re a young squad in the midst of a major rebuild and, from an outsider’s perspective, Hill and the other vets were largely added to just help mentor the less experienced guys. So while he and his new team have struggled, it should come as little surprise based on the make-up of the roster.

Honestly, though, regardless of Jazz fans’ feelings for Hill (personally I still really like him despite my disgust with his injury-riddled season last year), it’s a shame to see him struggling through such a poor season. He looked so good in 2016-17 and it would have been nice for him to be able continue to thrive despite the new environment.

Nevertheless, in a lot of ways Hill did this to himself. During extension talks it was quite clear that the Jazz wanted Hill and Hill wanted the Jazz, but there was obviously a disconnect in regards to the dollars, then the two parties became disenchanted with one another down the road. There were reports that the Jazz were originally offering more than what Hill ultimately ended up with, especially considering that his third year isn’t guaranteed, so one has to wonder if he doesn’t regret his decision and in hindsight wishes he had instead opted to come to terms with the Jazz.

Quite frankly, the Jazz could really use him right now. Their offense has struggled of late without a guy like Hill to spread the floor, and Ricky Rubio has been downright awful for most of his time with the Jazz. Furthermore, Hill always seemed to get the most out of Rudy Gobert and help him excel whereas Rubio and Gobert have found hardly any chemistry at all.

In short, yes we knew that losing Gordon Hayward would hurt the Jazz significantly, but I don’t think any of us imagined how much the absence of Hill would end up stinging as well. I know a lot of Jazz fans were anxious to replace Hill with Rubio, but after what we’ve witnessed so far, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that many of them wish that they could have Hill back in his place. I know I’m certainly in that camp.

Nevertheless, Hill and the Jazz parted ways and at least for now, it appears that both are worse off for it. The Jazz have fallen below .500 after a three-game losing streak and George Hill is reportedly unhappy with his new situation according to several sources. Due to both of those situations, following the December 15th deadline after which free agents that signed this summer can be traded, perhaps the Kings will look to move Hill and maybe the Jazz will look to make some sort of move to improve as well.

However, the latter seems particularly unlikely to me and even more unlikely than that would be a Hill-Jazz reunion which has been brought up by a few folks on Twitter, but it would make for an interesting story line.

I would personally be in support of it, but I definitely don’t see it happening. And despite issues with Utah’s starting lineup of late, I have a hard time believing they’ll pull the trigger on any deal right away. Perhaps closer to the deadline, sure, but it’s not in Utah’s front office’s nature to be overly anxious to make a hasty move.

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Regardless of what happens with the Sacramento Kings or the Utah Jazz in the coming months, though, I only hope the best for George Hill. Whether it be with the Kings or elsewhere, I hope he finds his groove and can be content where he’s at. Despite some frustrations concerning his health during his time with the Jazz, he played a large part in helping Utah earn the fifth seed and was a great contributor in the community.

He’s more than likely on the back end of his career, so hopefully he can put together a few nice runs yet rather than being stuck in an unhappy, unsuccessful rut for the remainder of his playing days.