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Jordan Hill Profile: An efficient rebounder

Jordan Hill is coming off his best season but his numbers don't tell the full story.

By Doyle Rader
Stephen Dunn

Strengths and Weaknesses

Oh, word, Woj? The Mavericks are interested in Jordan Hill? Well, that's just splendid. Hill was an invaluable player on a bad Lakers team despite being in and out of Mike D'Antoni's rotation. Of course, the same can be said for almost every player on the Lakers last season. Hill, though, was statistically outstanding.

Appearing in 72 games, Hill posted the best numbers of his career. He averaged 9.7 points on 54.9 percent shooting and 7.4 rebounds. Most of Hill's shots came within 10 feet of the basket but he does have the range to step out near the 3-point line. He just shouldn't be relied on to take these.

Perhaps what is most impressive about Hill's numbers are his rebounding percentages. He grabbed 13.8 percent of available offensive rebounds and 24.3 percent of available defensive boards. His offensive rebounding percentage was third best in the NBA while his defensive rebounding percentage was ranked 20th. His total rebounding percentage of 19 ranked ninth. With the Mavs' rebounding woes last season, it makes sense that they would be interested in bringing in Hill in a reserve role even with the addition of Tyson Chandler.

Drew Garrison from Silver Screen and Roll has a great breakdown of Hill. Unfortunately, despite his solid numbers, Hill is far from perfect. From Garrison:

For all of the pluses in Hill's game -- the aforementioned rebounding, the athleticism, his ability to finish a pick-and-roll -- there are undoubtedly minuses to weigh into the equation. When he isn't engaged in a game he becomes a ghost on the court. Scanning through his game logs you can find games where he played more than 15 minutes and logged less than four rebounds. There were 13 games where he didn't log a single offensive rebound. In six of those games he only grabbed a single defensive rebound.

Playing word association with Hill leads to many positive phrases, but also leads to a few negative ones as well. Inconsistent and limited are the two that come to mind immediately.

Hill's been in the league for five full seasons and his skill set is likely close to reaching a plateau. His mid-range jumper isn't anything to bank on, his post-game is on par with about every other mechanical big man in the NBA and he doesn't move the ball well, either.

Fit with the Mavericks

Obviously, no player is perfect. They are only human after all. With the Mavericks frontcourt still being formed, an energy, high-volume rebounder coming off the bench could be extremely valuable since Brandan Wright isn't known for his rebounding prowess. However, Dallas has other positional concerns that are more pressing at this point, namely small forward and point guard. But if Woj says the Mavericks are interested, you better believe they are. WOJ DON'T LIE!

Or does he?

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