I’m a big fan of George Hill now that he’s on the Bucks. His smaller role is more palatable from a highlight-making perspective (I remember being upset by his constant good games during his one season with the Jazz) and from a “I want DiVincenzo to get more minutes” perspective. I like George Hill so much that I don’t even care that he’ll be getting paid ten million dollars when he’s 36 years old.
Wait. Now that I’m looking up the contract numbers, I actually do care. It’s not a problem now, while Hill is still productive and hasn’t gotten ravaged by Father Time’s cold embrace, but in a few years, that contract is gonna look like poo-poo. We’ll remember how Hill was a vital contributor to the Bucks 2020 championship squad, but we won’t remember why the Bucks had to give him such a long-term contract at such an old age. We’ll wonder what kind of dirt his agent had on Jon Horst to make such a contract a possibility that wouldn’t be laughed off the negotiating table.
Ten million dollars is a lot. You can stock up a roster with cheap, high-upside G-League players for a fraction of that cost. Or you can go out and acquire a steady role-player in his prime. Not that Hill isn’t a steady role-player, because he is, but when he’s 36 he won’t be as steady and he definitely won’t be in his prime. Or, you can use that ten million dollars to put at least five mini-donuts stands in the upper concourse of Fiserv Forum so plebs in the cheap seats (like me) don’t have to go all the way down the escalator just to get their mini donut fix. Damn it.