Earlier this week the Indiana Pacers reportedly put small forward Solomon Hill on the trading block as he has been out of their rotation so they want to see if they can get anything for him. On Saturday night it was reported that the New Orleans Pelicans might have interest in acquiring Hill, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
The Pelicans have had a rough start to this season as they have been extremely banged up and because of that they are 5-15. New Orleans has their fair share of issues but one of their bigger issues has been the play of their small forwards. Hill has not shown yet that he can consistently be a good NBA player but he is young and has potential so the Pelicans might be willing to take a shot on him.
Coming into the season it seemed like the Pelicans would start a lineup of Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans but Evans and Holiday have had their injury issues and although they are all back now head coach Alvin Gentry has been reluctant to use Evans at small forward.
Instead Gentry has gone with a combination of Dante Cunningham, Luke Babbitt and Alonzo Gee at small forward and none of those three have played very well. All three small forwards on the Pelicans have a PER below 10 through 20 games and that is a big enough sample size to realize that the position is a problem area.
Hill was a first round pick of the Pacers back in 2013 out of Arizona and is still just 24 years old so it wouldn't hurt to take a look. The Pelicans likely wouldn't have to give up too much in a trade to get Hill and it could end up being a low risk, high reward type of deal because Hill was considered a first round talent just two years ago.
Hill played in all 82 games for the Pacers a season ago including 78 starts but has only appeared in seven this season because Indiana is now extremely deep on the wings with Paul George back and the addition of Monta Ellis among others so he has been out of the rotation. Hill wasn't great for the Pacers last season but he was better than any of the Pelicans small forwards have been this year and still has room to grow so if they don't have to give up too much, taking a shot on the former Arizona Wildcat makes a lot of sense.
