This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The night he joined the San Antonio Spurs, George Hill cried. "I broke out in tears because my dream finally came true," he said. And when, three years later, he got the call from coach Gregg Popovich that he would be leaving, Hill might have only wanted to cry.
But even then the point guard knew the guy he was being moved for — forward Kawhi Leonoard — must have had potential.
"I knew that if the Spurs picked him, they picked him for a reason," Hill said this week. "They do their background check on players. They're one of the best in the NBA at drafting guys. … He's turned into one of the best players in this league and the future's still bright."
On Tuesday, Leonard dropped 30 points on the Jazz, but Hill's takeover gave his new team the win in San Antonio.
"I'm happy for [Leonard]," Hill said. "I still talk to him when I see him to this day. We're good friends. It's nothing personal. It's part of the business and he's turned out to be a great player that I truly respect."
Popovich recalled how he used to call Hill "his favorite player."
"Then I called my favorite player and told him he wasn't here anymore," Popovich said. "That was real tough. But those kinds of trades are the best because it worked out for both teams. It was what Indiana needed and it was what we needed and it worked out."
New deals?
With Rudy Gobert's four-year extension done, the Jazz could conceivably move on to working out deals with either forward Derrick Favors or point guard George Hill. On Friday, both men said they would be open to talks.
"Of course I want to be here," Favors said. "It's a business too, but of course I want to be here. I love being here. If that opportunity comes, me and my agent will talk about it."
Said Hill, "I'm going to leave that to the front office. If they want me here, I would love to be here. I'll let them take care of that. But other than that, I'm here to play basketball and try to win games."
Injury update
Boris Diaw saw his production drop significantly from the end of preseason to the beginning of the regular season and now the Jazz think they know why. An MRI on Thursday revealed a contusion on the bone in Diaw's right leg, the team said.
He was held out of Friday's game versus the Spurs. The Jazz have not given a timeline for his return.
Twitter: @aaronfalk