RFDC wrote:
Hill would not have been better than Pippen IMO. From an offensive standpoint I think he would have been, but when you look at the whole picture I think Pippen would have been the better player.
I agree that Pippen was the better defender, but once Hill recovered and left Orlando, he became a pretty good defensive player in his 30s. I remember him being put on the opposing team's best player when he was with the Suns.
I was looking at Hill's stats for his best years in the league, and they seem to be closer to someone like LeBron James than they are to Pippen. Take a look below. These are from Hill's first six years in the league, and James' last six years. James is the more prolific scorer, but they both flirt with triple doubles statistically.
Hill averaged nearly 26 points the year just before his surgery, when he was only 27 years old. I think it's likely that he could have averaged anywhere from 24-28 points for the next 3-4 years, along with his steady diet of 6+ assists and 7+ boards. He definitely wouldn't have won as many titles as Pippen did, but I think you can make a strong argument that he projected to be the better player.
Hill
Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
94-95 DET 70 69 38.3 0.477 0.148 0.732 1.8 4.6 6.4 5.0 1.8 0.9 2.89 2.90 19.9
95-96 DET 80 80 40.8 0.462 0.192 0.751 1.6 8.2 9.8 6.9 1.2 0.6 3.29 3.02 20.2
96-97 DET 80 80 39.3 0.496 0.303 0.711 1.5 7.5 9.0 7.3 1.8 0.6 3.24 2.32 21.4
97-98 DET 81 81 40.7 0.452 0.143 0.740 1.1 6.5 7.7 6.8 1.8 0.6 3.52 2.42 21.1
98-99 DET 50 50 37.0 0.479 0.000 0.752 1.3 5.8 7.1 6.0 1.6 0.5 3.68 2.28 21.1
99-00 DET 74 74 37.5 0.489 0.347 0.795 1.3 5.3 6.6 5.2 1.4 0.6 3.24 2.57 25.8
James
Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
07-08 CLE 75 74 40.4 0.484 0.315 0.712 1.8 6.1 7.9 7.2 1.8 1.1 3.40 2.20 30.0
08-09 CLE 81 81 37.7 0.489 0.344 0.780 1.3 6.3 7.6 7.2 1.7 1.2 2.98 1.72 28.4
09-10 CLE 76 76 39.0 0.503 0.333 0.767 0.9 6.4 7.3 8.6 1.6 1.0 3.43 1.57 29.7
10-11 MIA 79 79 38.8 0.510 0.330 0.759 1.0 6.5 7.5 7.0 1.6 0.6 3.59 2.06 26.7
11-12 MIA 62 62 37.5 0.531 0.362 0.771 1.5 6.4 7.9 6.2 1.8 0.8 3.44 1.55 27.1
12-13 MIA 76 76 37.9 0.565 0.406 0.753 1.3 6.8 8.0 7.3 1.7 0.9 2.97 1.45 26.8