With Dwight Howard gone, could Paul Millsap be next?
Probably.
But how he leaves the Atlanta Hawks is still up for debate.
Millsap is an unrestricted free agent, so he can bolt on his own accord. But ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst says a sign-and-trade remains on the table, in the event he wants to join a team that doesn’t have cap space (h/t SLAM):
This is the Hawks sending a signal that they are going into a full rebuild mode, and it would also imply that Paul Mills probably will not be back with the organization.
There are three or four teams out there that are willing to give Millsap a max contract, and sources have told me that the Hawks have begun getting some feelers on sign-and-trades.
Teams like the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets are interested in Paul Millsap.
The Hawks better hope a sign-and-trade is possible. Losing Millsap for nothing one year after letting Al Horford walk for zilch would be catastrophic—especially given that, once again, they had the opportunity to get some kind of value for him at the trade deadline.
Still, things don’t look too good on that front. Of the three teams Windhorst names, only the Nuggets would appeal to Millsap, and they can get the cap space to sign him outright. A sign-and-trade works if they want to retain Danilo Gallinari, but only if they’re pawning off some of their other frontcourt contributors, like Kenneth Faried, in any deal. The Kings, for their part, can sign Millsap outright as well. The Suns can too if they really tried, though a sign-and-trade would be easier if Millsap shows interest in playing there.
The “how” behind Millsap leaving is neither he nor there. The point is he’s leaving, one way or another. The Hawks are rebuilding. They made that much clear by shipping Howard to the Hornets. Millsap, at 32, no longer fits into their plans—and they most certainly shouldn’t factor into his.
