ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 3 -- The
Orlando Magic have obtained five-time NBA All-Star forward Grant Hill from the Detroit
Pistons in a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace, General
Manager John Gabriel announced today. Per club policy, terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
Hill (6-8, 225) averaged 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists
and 1.39 steals in 74 regular season games for Detroit during the
1999-2000 season. He was selected to the All-NBA Second Team after
finishing third in the league in scoring, 20th in field goal
percentage (.489), tied for 21st in assists, 21st in minutes (37.5
mpg), 31st in steals and 39th in rebounding. Hill led the Pistons
in both scoring and assists.
Hill has played in 435 career NBA regular season outings, all
with Detroit, averaging 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists and
1.60 steals in 39.1 minutes per game. He has also appeared in 15
career playoff contests, averaging 19.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.6 apg. and
1.20 spg in 36.6 mpg. Hill was originally drafted in the first
round (third overall) by the Pistons in the 1994 NBA Draft.
Hill has started in the NBA All-Star Game
five consecutive times and led the league in voting twice (1995,
1996). He was named to the All-NBA First Team and captured the IBM
Award, which measures a player's overall contributions to his team,
in 1996-97. Hill was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1995-96,
1997-98 and 1998-99. He shared the NBA Rookie of the Year award in
1994-95 with Jason Kidd,
and earned All-Rookie First Team honors.
After leading the Pistons in scoring, rebounding and assists in
1998-99, Hill joined Elgin
Baylor and Wilt
Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have led
their team in those three major categories at least three times. He
has been named the NBA Player of the Week five times during his
career and picked up NBA Player of the Month honors once.
Following his rookie campaign, Hill was named to the 1996 United
States Olympic Men's Basketball Team, where he helped "Dream Team
III" capture the gold medal in Atlanta. He was also named to the
2000 U.S. Olympic Team, but will not be able to participate due to
injury.
The honors continue for Hill off the court as well, being named
the NBA's All-Interview First Team in 1999-2000 and 1996-97. He
picked up All-Interview Second Team honors in 1994-95, 1995-96,
1997-98 and 1998-99.
While at Duke University, Hill helped the
Blue Devils win back-to-back NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992. Duke
appeared in three straight NCAA Championship games, won three ACC
regular season championships and one ACC Tournament title with
Hill, who averaged 14.9 ppg., 6.0 rpg. and 3.6 apg during his
collegiate career.
He was named consensus First Team All-America and the ACC Player
of the Year following his senior season (1993-94), earned Second
Team All-America honors as a sophomore and junior and was a
consensus Freshman All-American. Hill became the first player in
ACC history to record 1,900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200
steals and 100 blocked shots. He was the eighth player in school
history to have his jersey (33) retired.
Hill is married to four-time Grammy-nominated recording artist
Tamia Washington. He is the only child of Calvin and Janet Hill.
His father was a running back with three NFL teams from 1969-74 and
1976-81, and his mother serves as a consultant in the Washington
D.C. area. Grant also served as vice-chairman of the 1999 Special
Olympics World Games, held in North Carolina.
Atkins (5-11, 160) played in all 82 games last season for the
Magic, averaging 9.5 points, 3.7 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 19.8
minutes per game off the bench. He finished second on the Magic in
assists and ranked among all NBA rookies in three-point field goal
percentage (fifth, .350), assists (seventh), scoring (eighth) and
field goal percentage (10th, .424). He also stood third among all
NBA rookies in points per 48 minutes (23.1 avg.). Atkins was named
to the 1999-2000 NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
Wallace (6-9, 240) appeared in 81 games during 1999-2000 for
Orlando, averaging 4.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.60 blocks in 24.2
minutes per game. He led the club in rebounding and stood second in
blocked shots. Wallace tied for 20th in the NBA in rebounding and
stood 22nd in blocks. He set a new career-high with 21 rebounds on
March 19 at Philadelphia.