The San Antonio Spurs had been rumored to be ready to trade Tony Parker, a 29-year-old three-time All-Star, for a lottery pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Instead, they traded zero-time All-Star George Hill and landed a player that should have gone in the lottery. Unfair, you guys.
2011 NBA Draft Grades: Spurs Trade George Hill, Not Tony Parker, Still Get ‘Lottery Pick’
Gained: Kawhi Leonard, Davis Bertans.
Gave up: George Hill.
Synopsis: Hill’s pretty good, but he’s not exactly a good starter. He can be a starter, and might be in Indiana. But if he were to become the starter in San Antonio, that’d be a position of relative weakness. Parker is one of the best in the NBA. George Hill will never be.
Leonard? We'll see. He's got potential and he's dirt cheap for a few years. He fits the San Antonio mold -- tough, defensive-minded -- and won't get in the way of Manu Ginobili or Parker too much. Bertans, meanwhile, was expected to go in the first round, and as such, is absolutely gravy in this deal. In a few years, the Spurs could have netted two promising, rising forwards. The Pacers will have netted George Hill.
Grade: A+.
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