Dwight Howard, Sixers are Thankful for George Hill's Presence

It took a while for George Hill to get inserted into the Philadelphia 76ers' rotation. Since the Sixers landed the veteran guard through a trade when he was still rehabbing from thumb surgery, which he underwent months ago, Hill couldn't get acclimated with his new teammates right away.

At this point, Hill is cleared for action and has been a part of Philly's primary rotation for the last seven games now. Being in the NBA since 2008, Hill has plenty of on-court experience to offer the Sixers -- especially in the postseason.

But Hill brings much more to the table than being just an experienced point guard to bring off the bench. Recently, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers described Hill as a coach in uniform. "They (Hill, Danny Green) just have so much knowledge they can share," Rivers explained recently. "It's always better coming from them than from us. Both of those guys, just their experiences, it's just invaluable."

From the sidelines, Rivers can see how much value Hill brings to the Sixers' second unit, which needed an upgrade before the trade deadline this season. On the court, 76ers veteran big man Dwight Howard recently explained just how important Hill is to the bench unit as he's played alongside Hill for a few games now.

"It's been great," Howard explained. "George is just another vet who can really just talk to the guards and explain certain plays on offense and defense. How to defend, how to get set up in pick-and-rolls, get our offense going, and what plays we want to run and stuff like that. I think it’s been a great help for guys like Shake (Milton) and (Tyrese) Maxey and all the point guards. But just his overall experience and helping the team, he's done an amazing job -- very thankful that he’s here.”

Hill has the next eight games to build chemistry with his new teammates and master Doc Rivers' system before the postseason begins. So far, it seems like the Hill experience is going great -- but it can only get better over time as the Sixers continue to gain regular-season reps while fighting for the Eastern Conference's first seed.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.