George Hill pleased to stay with Indiana Pacers - Indianapolis Star

George Hill could have easily made this about him. He'll sign the first lucrative contract of his young NBA career next week.

Hill, however, had no interest in that.

He only wanted to talk about team continuity, improving his point guard skills and playing for his hometown team for the next five seasons.

"I think it's a blessing," Hill said in his first interview since agreeing to the $40 million contract with the Indiana Pacers earlier this week. "I think it's big for the city of Indianapolis. They're not only getting a good player, they're also getting a good guy in the community. We want to keep things moving on this Pacers journey to try to get better each year."

Pacers officials told Hill, a former Broad Ripple High School and IUPUI star, and his agent, Bill Neff, that they wanted a deal as early as possible during free agency.

Hill felt the same way. That's why he let his agent negotiate the deal while he enjoyed a vacation in the Virgin Islands. They stayed in constant communication and agreed to the deal Monday.

Hill will return to Indianapolis on Tuesday and sign his contract once the NBA's moratorium period ends Wednesday.

Pacers officials cannot comment until after the moratorium period.

Not agreeing to a contract extension in January helped Hill earn more money. The Pacers had offered Hill a deal that would have averaged about $6 million a year during their previous negotiations.

Part of the reason Hill got a more lucrative contract was because of his ability to start at point guard. He began the season as the backup at both guard spots. When starter Darren Collison went down with an injury late in the season, Hill got extensive minutes at point guard.

The Pacers won seven straight games with Hill as the starter. He averaged 15.4 points and 5.4 assists during that stretch. Coach Frank Vogel decided to keep Hill as his starter when Collison returned.

Hill averaged 13.9 points and 5.3 assists in nine starts last season. He averaged 9.6 points and 2.9 assists a game overall last season.

"We have a great point guard in Darren Collison; unfortunately he got injured," Hill said. "I got the opportunity to start and things started going well. At the same time, we're a deep team. We have lot of great players on this team. Just to get the opportunity to do it and succeed was overwhelming."

Hill doesn't plan to settle. He's working on his point guard skills in the offseason.

"It's about getting better," he said. "I want to get better on defense, passing and reading ball screens. It's a big summer for everybody."

Hill hopes starting center Roy Hibbert will return to the Pacers.

The Pacers are "on the fence" on whether they want to match Portland's four-year, $58 million contract offer to Hibbert. The Pacers will have three days to match it once the league's moratorium period ends.

"That's the biggest thing," Hill said.

"To keep things rolling, you need to get everybody back so it's the way it was before. If we don't get Roy back, that puts us a big step back from what we're doing. We'll have to find another (center) who can fill in and we'll have to get used to playing with him. We need to get Roy back."

Call Star reporter Mike Wells at (317) 444-6053.