After signing a multi-year contract with New Orleans on the first day of free agency last summer, Solomon Hill’s debut campaign with the Pelicans often mirrored that of his new team. Hill provided valuable defensive contributions, helping New Orleans make an enormous jump in efficiency rankings at that end of the floor, but he didn’t find his stride offensively until the latter portion of the 82-game slate. For the Pelicans overall, that was a theme of their 2016-17 season, with defensive improvements not able to completely offset being ranked No. 26 in the NBA in offense (103.3 points per 100 possessions, via NBA.com).
“We felt like he was the guy that could guard that perimeter player we struggled with so much (to stop in 2015-16),” Pelicans second-year head coach Alvin Gentry said. “He had a run where he guarded Paul George and did a great job on him, Kevin Durant, guys like that. I think he did as good a job as anyone else guarding them did.”
With Hill helping to spearhead the effort, New Orleans was vastly better at containing the opposition, going from third-worst in the NBA in ’15-16 to ninth-best in the league (104.9 points allowed per 100 possessions, via NBA.com).
“I thought Solomon did a really good job of defending the best wing for opposing teams,” Dell Demps said, praising Hill for containing key scorers. “Sometimes when (an offensive player) just doesn’t get a shot, there is no stat for that. (Hill) did a good job with that for the most part. Offensively, it took a while for him to find his rhythm. I think that happens a lot when guys go to a different team. (Hill) was one of the guys who struggled when DeMarcus (Cousins) arrived, but then as the season moved on, he started to figure out his role and his spots and play better.”
Among Hill’s top six scoring games of ’16-17, only one occurred prior to Jan. 27, with him appearing to gradually become more comfortable and aggressive in the offense. Like their starting small forward, the Pelicans’ best stretch occurred later in the season, with a 10-6 March marking the club’s best month by a wide margin.
“I like the way we’ve been playing,” Hill said, following NOLA’s final home game April 4. “We’ve just got to try to handle business in the offseason, as far as taking care of our guys and bringing the right guys back. We’re definitely building for (next season) and we’ll see where it goes.”
NBA experience: 4 seasons (1 with Pelicans) || Games played/started: 80/71 || Age: 26