Re-Signing Jordan Hill Must Be Next Move

With the acquisitions of Steve Nash and now Antawn Jamison, the Lakers have addressed two of their major concerns, the need for a true PG and improving the bench scoring.  The bench scoring in particular was frustrating last season as it seemed as though there were plenty of games where the Lakers would get about 10-15 points from the bench. The midseason move of Derek Fisher to get Jordan Hill wasn’t initially a trade that was welcomed by the fans, since Fisher was a beloved Laker and friend of Kobe Bryant.  It only was more aggravating to see the newcomer ride the pine, leaving myself and Laker nation to wonder why Fisher was dealt. Finally Hill got his chance to make an impact and he made sure to make the most of his opportunity. In one of the most exciting games of the regular season, the infamous Elbow Game, the Lakers defeated the Thunder in double overtime. Hill was a major difference maker with 14 points and 15 rebounds in 35 minutes of actions. His tenacity and effort was invigorating for a Laker team that looked dead in the water.

Despite falling down to earth in a sense, Hill won over the hearts of Laker fans and there seems to be a general consensus that he should be re-signed. I was able to come up with 3 major reasons as to why Hill should be re-signed and given a good amount of actions as one of the first reserves off the bench.

1. Help Bench

Easily the number 1 reason to try and keep Jordan Hill is that he can add to the bench. Even with the addition of Antawn Jamison, the bench still needs help in a big way. Jordan has shown energy that this team was lacking and if he can be a guy who can get 7-10 points and 5-7 rebounds in 15-20 minutes that would be a blessing.

People expected age to catch up with Kobe this year and despite a major dip in FG %, his numbers really didn’t take any sort of hit and he was able to log quite a few minutes on the floor.  However he can’t outrun age forever and it surely will catch up with most of the Lakers starters this year, limiting their minutes.  Having those capable players, like a Jordan Hill, that can protect leads and even go on runs while the starters rest will be crucial for this team’s success.

2. Young

As I’ve said before it is unnerving to look at the Laker roster because although it is full of stars and solid players much like the Heat’s roster, it isn’t built for the future like Miami’s is. Jordan Hill won’t ever be a star, but he shown signs that he could be a solid NBA player. Given the fact that he only played 7 regular season games with the team, it makes sense to keep him around for a full season and let me develop. Having some younger potential to go along with the older talent will help the transition process when guys like Kobe and Nash retire.

3. Shows Defensive Potential

Hill isn’t a Serge Ibaka or Dwight Howard on the defensive end, but Jordan Hill has shown a willingness to play defense that isn’t that common in the league. The fact of the matter is the Lakers current roster has 4 guys that should put up between 70-80 points a game (Nash, Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum). If you can get 15-20 out of Jamison and Artest then you are looking at 85-100 points from 6 players. Basically the offense isn’t going to be an issue, but especially since this team is slow and full of notoriously bad defenders i.e. Nash, Jamison, it helps to have a guy who doesn’t mind playing hard on D.

Jordan Hill is really just a low risk, high reward investment and there doesn’t seem to be any reason as to why the Lakers shouldn’t bring him back. Assuming that another team doesn’t give him money based on potential, the Lakers should be able to re-sign him for cheap and see if he can develop the way scouts believed he could when he was drafted 8^th overall.