Welcome to the Open Thread. In the course of the month of June, we’re speaking NBA Draft. As we lead as much as the 2025 NBA Draft on June twenty fifth, we will likely be revisiting the Spurs draft selections. In the present day we keep in mind the 2008 NBA Draft.
The Spurs drafted IUPUI Junior George Hill with the twenty sixth total choose within the 2008 draft. He served as a back-up level guard for 3 season earlier than turning into the token piece of essentially the most notorious commerce in Spurs historical past.
For starters, Hill was thought of to be one in all Gregg Popovich’s favourite gamers. The 2 have a singular relationship that continues to this present day. The choice to commerce Hill was probably the most tough Pop ever needed to make.
“The hardest [decision] in no matter, 20, no matter years I’ve been teaching right here as a head coach. It’s not even shut. We had been scared to loss of life sitting within the room. I feel it was the fifteenth choose, if I keep in mind, and after we obtained to 11, 12, 13. Danny Ferry, our CEO, and I had been taking a look at one another saying, ‘Are we actually going to do that?’
”[Hill] was one in all my favourite gamers. He was essential to us, however we wanted to get larger. … So ultimately, we stated we’re going to roll the bones and we’re going to do it, however I can’t inform that at that time we knew that Kawhi was going to be what he’s in the present day. That might be an exaggeration.”
Hill was traded to the Indiana Pacers on draft evening 2011 for the #15 choose Kawhi Leonard, Dāvis Bertāns the forty second choose, and the draft rights to Erazem Lorbek that the Pacers had acquired within the 2005 NBA Draft. Hill spent 5 seasons with the Pacers primarily as their place to begin guard.
In 2016, Hill went to the Utah Jazz as a part of a three-team deal that included the Atlanta Hawks sending Jeff Teague to Indiana and Utah sending Taurean Prince’s draft rights to the Hawks. He began and performed in 49 whole sport in his lone season with the Jazz earlier than signing a $57 million greenback/3-year take care of the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings traded Hill on the commerce deadline to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Iman Shumpert.
He was concerned in a Recreation 1 debacle. After lacking a free throw, J. R. Smith tried to dribble out the time considering the Cavs had been within the lead. They had been tied and misplaced in time beyond regulation.
Hill and the Cavs fell to the Golden State Warriors in a four-game sweep.
He was once more traded in December of 2018 to the Milwaukee Bucks in a five-team commerce.
From 2020 to 2023, Hill went from Milwaukee to OKC, to Philadelphia, again to Milwaukee and finally again to Indiana earlier than retiring.
Within the second spherical, the Spurs utilized the forty fifth choose acquired from the 2007 commerce with the Toronto Raptors for Georgios Printezis (talked about yesterday) to draft Goran Dragić, however traded his to the Phoenix Suns for the forty eighth choose Malik Hairston, their 2009 second spherical draft choose (who would turn out to be DeJuan Blair), and money concerns. Though Hairston didn’t make the roster at the start of the season, he signed in December of the 2008 season with the Spurs and performed in 15 video games, He returned the next season and performed in 47 video games. He performed abroad till retiring in 2019.
With the 57th choose of the draft, the Spurs selected James Gist. Gist performed abroad earlier than returning to San Antonio to affix the Spurs in Summer season League. He was subsequently waived in 2010 and returned to competing in numerous leagues.
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