Does Solomon Hill Have Star Potential?

Nov 8, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Solomon Hill (44) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Nene (42) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Washington defeats Indiana 97-90. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Does Solomon Hill have any star potential moving forward with the Indiana Pacers?

The Indiana Pacers lost to the Washington Wizards 97-90 last night, but they saw one major bright spot in the play of second-year small forward Solomon Hill. He didn’t play all that much in his rookie season last year, but he showed enough that both Larry Bird and Frank Vogel were speaking very highly of him during the offseason.

His performance last night begs the question of whether or not Hill has any “star” potential.

Hill scored 28 points on 10-19 shooting, and made 7-11 from the foul line as well. The Pacers are relying on Hill to step up in a big way with the injury that Paul George suffered this past offseason, and he has been looking better and better with the increased confidence that he is getting from receiving more playing time.

Not only has he been performing well at the offensive end of the court, he has also been stepping up on the defensive end of the court. George is one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, and that role fell directly into the second-year small forwards arms. He has done a good job so far against fairly solid competition, and the future is extremely bright on the defensive end of the court.

Indiana’s main concern this year is without a doubt on the offensive end of the court. They are needing Hill to be as aggressive as possible on offense like he was last night, and he is beginning to improve both his mid-range and perimeter shot. If he’s able to figure out those two things in particular, he’s going to be a very solid scorer.

Another area that could use improvement is his ball-handling ability. He has done a much better job this season than he did last year, but could still use more improvement in order to get to the rim with more efficiency.

That being said, he definitely has shown the ability to play at a high level this season. The Pacers are very high on him, and they are going to continue giving him big minutes and improve with more experience. Hill’s upside and potential was seen last night, and there is no doubt that he can continue getting to that point on a consistent basis.

While George’s injury has put the Pacers back a season, it has also given Hill a chance to prove his value to the Pacers. They might very well have found their next young star moving forward, and possibly their long-term replacement for Lance Stephenson.