With the NBA Draft taking place on Thursday, NBA teams are trying to fill holes right before the draft.

The Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz got together on a deal on Wednesday that sent Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague to the Pacers, Indiana point guard George Hill to the Jazz and the Hawks would receive Utah’s #12 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The Pacers have been rumored to be interested in Teague for quite some time. They needed a third team’s involvement since a straight point guard for point guard swap wouldn’t work due to Atlanta’s possible salary cap issues and the fact that Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder has played well enough to now start at point guard for the Hawks.

Hill has been more than adequate for the Pacers during his time in Indiana. He is an Indianapolis native and also went on to play college in Indy at IUPUI. Pacers fans were excited for him to arrive in town when they traded the #15 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft to the San Antonio Spurs for him. Unfortunately for Indiana, the 15th pick in that year’s draft was Kawhi Leonard. The better Leonard got for the Spurs, the less Pacers fans liked Hill. Also, with Paul George’s recent emergence as a ball-handler, there was less need for Hill to be on the floor.

Teague, also an Indianapolis native, nearly single-handedly knocked the Pacers out of 2014 NBA Playoffs. His play put him on the map. He was hampered by knee issues last season and his shine began to fade a bit in Atlanta with Schroder playing so well.

Utah was in desperate need for a veteran point guard and overall point guard depth. They have an extremely young team. Utah doesn’t have to rush point guard Dante Exum back from ACL surgery with Hill manning the point.

It’s unknown who Atlanta may pick with their newly-acquired #12 pick in this week’s draft. I expect them to draft someone with size. Michigan State’s Deyonta Davis or Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis might get their name called Thursday night when Atlanta is on the clock…or the Hawks may just trade the draft pick away to free up even more cap space.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.