Paul Millsap’s spot with the Atlanta Hawks is totally safe…now that he survived the portion of the offseason during which it was anything but totally safe.
After signing Dwight Howard, the Hawks apparently shopped Millsap around the league, according to ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, in an effort to retain Al Horford. But Horford, perhaps recognizing that he and Howard are not the optimal frontcourt pairing, signed with the Boston Celtics. Paul Millsap remains in Atlanta, which is, per Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler, where he will stay:
The only reason Millsap’s name gets talked about in trade rumors is because the Hawks explored moving him to try and retain Al Horford in free agency. But with Horford gone, the Hawks continue to say Millsap is their guy. While he does have a $21 million player option for next season, the belief around the Hawks is that they are hanging on to him as the counter balance to newly acquired Dwight Howard.
Now, much like many of the teams mentioned above, if the floor falls out from under the Hawks then moving Millsap might become a possibility. However, according to sources near the situation, Millsap has been assured he’s not going anywhere.
This makes sense, but it would be foolish to entirely discount the possibility of a Millsap trade ahead of this coming February’s deadline. The Hawks have a clear need for him without Horford, and he can function at a high level alongside Howard, but Millsap will be a free agent himself next summer (player option), at the age of 32.
Horford’s name crept into the rumor mill last February because the Hawks were afraid of losing him for nothing, and he wasn’t yet 30 at the time. If Atlanta doesn’t maintain top-four status in the East, or if the front office gets the sense that he won’t be back or will be too expensive for someone his age, it’s only a matter of time before his name returns to the chopping block.
