Breaking Down Cleveland's Trade Deadline Day Acquisitions

#1 George Hill

George Hill going up against Kyrie Irving (Image courtesy: nba.com)

The only veteran among the 4 players that Cleveland received, the 31-year old George Hill is currently in his 10th season in the NBA, having played for the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, and Sacramento Kings - from where he was traded in a 3-team deal to Cleveland.

Hill rose to prominence in his second season in the NBA, where he saw his minutes increase from 16.5 minutes in his rookie season to 29 minutes per game. Hill ended the 2009-10 regular season tied at second place with Kevin Durant and Marc Gasol for the Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Hill is a career 45% shooter from the floor, but adjusted metrics such as true shooting percentage put him at 58.7%. He brings a wealth of Playoff experience to the table, having played in the Playoffs in 8 of his 9 finished seasons in the NBA so far, missing only the 2014-15 playoffs. He led the Jazz for a win, along with Gordon Hayward, in game-7 of the previous season's playoff series for the Jazz against the Clippers with a good all-around performance.

As mentioned before, defense was one of the primary worries of the slumping Cavaliers and George Hill has a big role to play in reversing this. He is proficient in stopping pick-and-roll plays and plays tenacious on-ball defense. As Gregg Popovich puts it, "Hill does a little bit of everything, the great thing about him is that he's a very good all-around basketball player, he's a tenacious defender, he can score, he can run, he's a good passer, he knows how to play and he's really a team guy"

Although he's had a dismal season so far, Hill has the leadership quality and the defensive ability, combined with playoff experience which makes him a very valuable asset for the Cavaliers.