Written by Gregg Doyel at IndyStar.com
Jeff Teague for George Hill? That’s a trade you make every day of the week and twice on Sunday, because at some point Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird ought to walk into church and offer a prayer of forgiveness.
Because he just stole from somebody.
Hard to say whom Bird fleeced, seeing how the trade he pulled off Wednesday was not, technically, Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague for the Pacers’ George Hill. A third team is involved, the Utah Jazz, who sent the No. 12 pick in Thursday’s draft to the Hawks. The Hawks sent Teague to the Pacers. The Pacers sent Hill to the Jazz.
Who got ripped off here, the Hawks or Jazz? Don’t know yet. Don’t care, either. Today, what we know for sure is this: The Pacers won.
The Pacers won big.
The Pacers just got younger. They got more aggressive. They got a point guard for Paul George!
Sorry. I seem to be shouting. But today is not a day for subtleties, because this is not a subtle improvement the Pacers just made. Teague and Hill cost the same against the salary cap, but Teague (15.7 points per game, 5.9 assists in 2015-16) is clearly better than Hill (12.1 ppg, 3.5 apg) and — at age 28 — two years younger.
And Teague will make the Pacers more attractive to free agent targets.
Great players want to play with a point guard, and the Pacers just got their best point guard since, um, when? Over the past three seasons Teague has averaged 16 points and 6.5 assists per game. The last time the Pacers had a point guard who could score and create like that? The early 1990s, when it was Vern Fleming and then Micheal Williams running the show.
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