Will Hill Stay Or Will He Go?

Will he go? Will he stay? At the moment, no one seems to know for sure, including Grant Hill, the object of all this speculation.

One thing is certain: Rumors about Hill, one of the NBA’s biggest stars, will continue for the next six weeks. At least.

“The speculation is amusing,” said Hill’s agent, Lon Babby. “But that’s all it is. It’s all speculation.”

Hill can become a free agent on July 1 by exercising an early termination clause six years into his original eight-year contract with the Detroit Pistons. Babby said Hill intends to shop around.

That will take a month because teams can’t sign free agents until Aug. 1.

Between now and then, the Pistons will keep their fingers crossed--and so will many other teams that would love to have Hill.

“Do I lose sleep over it? Yeah. I don’t sleep a wink,” Pistons general manager Rick Sund said. “I worry over this.”

Still, this doesn’t mean the Pistons are going to lose their best player. They intend to pursue Hill as hard as anyone. Maybe harder.

As a player with six years experience, the Pistons can offer Hill the league maximum of $86.6 million. That’s based on a starting salary of $9 million, with annual raises of $1.12 million. That would give him a salary of $15.7 million in 2007.

But that’s just for openers. Hill, who is making $7.5 million this season, could do even better financially.

The Pistons have made it clear they will pay Hill as much money as league rules allow. In other words, they will not be overbid.

Therefore, in a more likely scenario, Hill could sign a one-year, $9 million contract to play for the Pistons next season. Then in August 2001, he could sign a seven-year deal, starting at $11 million, which would pay him almost $106 million.

In all, that means the Pistons are prepared to pay Hill $115 million over the next eight years.

The Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic are the only three other teams with a viable shot at making room under the NBA salary cap to sign Hill. Yet it is unlikely any of them could pay Hill as much as the Pistons.

“The process is going to play itself out,” Babby said. “Grant will weigh all the options and make the decision that’s best for him.”

But money isn’t everything.

Hill wants a chance to compete for the NBA championship. The Pistons have qualified for the playoffs four of the last five years, but haven’t advanced past the first round.

Hill and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs are good friends. And they both have Babby as their agent. So, it’s possible a team like the Magic could come up with a package deal and land Hill and Duncan.