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http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2015/1/19 ... free-agent

Jeff Zillgitt ✔ @JeffZillgitt
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In reporting on intriguing free agents, I was told Paul Millsap had longer offer from Hawks but wanted opp to re-up for last big deal at 30.

1. It means that the Hawks always saw Millsap as more than just a short-term rental.

At the time, the signing came from out of left field, and the short term nature of it indicated less than a total commitment on either side. That the team actually offered Millsap a deal longer than the two-years he signed for correlates more directly with the dialogue from the Hawks side that Millsap is part of the core of the team.
2. No wonder the Hawks have never been rumored to move Millsap.

Another offshoot of the short term contract is, almost immediately, Bird Watchers have been wondering if the Hawks might trade Millsap due to the temporary nature of the deal. However, to this date, no serious rumors have ever come to light regarding Millsap, even as his contract is near the end.
3. Millsap gambled on himself, big.

Paul had never been a full time starter, yet felt confident enough in his own abilities that, given the opportunity he was going to have, that he would be able to get another long term deal when the two-year deal with the Hawks was up.

He's about to get paaaaaaaaaaaaaid, so good call, Mr. Millsap.

File this under stuff we didnt know, and now it makes sense.

Wait is it an extension or a longer initial contract?

Rip2137 wrote:Wait is it an extension or a longer initial contract?

Sounds like we had offered more years on the original deal. Sounds like we want to keep Millsap around for a while and my guess is he will be a Hawk next season.

Rip2137 wrote:Wait is it an extension or a longer initial contract?

Sounds like a larger initial contract is what he turned down. It's been my understanding that we could not offer him an extension BECAUSE he only signed for 2 years in the first place.

He is indeed going to get paid. Can we afford to invest so heavily in a player on the badside of 30?

The initial contract.

Just like Joe Johnson, Millsap is doing the right thing, and he should waiting and become a free agent and look to get the highest offer.

I don't expect him to be loyal, and if i was his friend i would advise to him take the highest offer, even if that means to leave the Hawks.

Millsap and Joe, are not Lebron, or Dwight, or Rose, or Durant, Millsap and Joe are not going to get $100 million or $300 million from Nike or Adidas. Sap is a second round pick who worked his ass off to build a very respectable NBA career. This is going to be Millsap's last paycheck and he needs to cash this in.

I think Millsap deserves $12 million a year, but another team might offer him max this summer.

Unlike many fans on the Knicks board who keep clamoring that either Horford or Milsap are leaving and Going to NYK (I live in Valdosta,GA) for big money and because NYC is the media capital, I truely think both of those guys are going to stay put, especially saince the Hawks are having a breakout year under Budenholzer! I belive it would be under Milsap's intrest to stay in ATL. If he goes to chaotic Knicks with no defense melo and that terrible roster it will be for the money the Knicks overpaid for him!

I think Millsap 100% stays, and will even take a (small) hometown discount to stay with us. He doesn't owe us anything, by any means, but with us he's developed more and had more personal and career success than anywhere else. He's a pro's pro, and I think the culture Bud has built is an enticing one for a workman like Paul.

I think we offer a 3 year deal with a player option for year 3 at around $14M a year; at the end of the deal Paul will be a FA again in the new TV-cap market where hopefully we can again keep him as a Hawk where he ends his career.

I have to agree with azuresou1 here - I don't see Millsap going elsewhere. For 1, I don't think that the new owners will low ball him. Someone buying a team at the top isn't looking to let one of the AS guys walk. Maybe we wouldn't completely max him out, but I'd imagine that we'd at least be competitive with our offer.

2nd, remember the situation Millsap came from before he got here and compare it to the situation he's in now. I don't know enough about the situation in UTH to call it "toxic" (like the last couple of years Smoove), but I do know that there were many UTH fans who weren't sad to see him leave either. I just don't think he ever really got his shot there. From the git, he was backing up Boozer, then once he left, he was paired with the lane clogging Al Jefferson. Even so, the trio of Millsap, Deron, and Jefferson were pretty formidable (averaging ~60ppg), but then management dealt Deron for a sweetheart package that included Millsap's replacement in the new found youth movement in Derrick Favors. Soon thereafter, UTH fans were pining for the days that Millsap and Jefferson would be moved aside for the young kids Favors and Kanter. In the final year, many were calling Millsap a prima donna due to a reluctance to move over to SF more even though he was generally considered terrible. Even in the breakup, UTH screwed Millsap by announcing the GSW trade in which UTH received 1sts for salary dumps so that GSW could sign Iguodala. In effect, this meant that Millsap would be renounced to allow the deal to go through, so any SNT deals that Millsap's camp had been working on were done. Sap was left to scramble to find someone with cap room and the willingness to sign a 28 yo blue collar vet.

Now, go watch an interview with him especially after a game. He has a genuine smile on his face and he's always looking over at his teammates like there's going to be a practical joke played at any moment. Even Teague (who I've always viewed as aloof before Coach Bud) has joined in with the impromptu joking with Millsap and Mike Scott in the post-game interviews. There is a camaraderie to the team and if Millsap isn't at the center of it, then he's in the central group. Money can't buy happiness, and in viewing Millsap through this prism, I not only believe that he realizes that, but he appreciates it more than most - not just NBA players.

I would add that Millsap is also a small town guy from Monroe, Louisiana. I doubt that he is some extravagant spender and he probably leads a simple life off the court.

The interview with Korver after the Indiana game is pretty telling as well. He said some great things in regards to Bud and I think the team loves Bud like family. Losing out on a couple of million is well worth the situation that he is in right now and winning a title in Atlanta will etch your name in the history books forever.

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:I would add that Millsap is also a small town guy from Monroe, Louisiana. I doubt that he is some extravagant spender and he probably leads a simple life off the court.

Monroe's not a small town, it's a city with a metro population of a couple hundred thousand, similar in size to Athens. He might not be a big spender but it's not because he came from simple farming folk or anything (like fellow PFs Karl Malone or Antonio McDyess did, for example).

Also, those guys like money too. Money is power, and Millsap knows this is likely his last chance in his life to get a giant payday. I can't see him taking too big of a discount to stay (though I agree he very likely wants to stay for reasons other people have stated).