Jazz Spotlight, Week 5: Paul Millsap

[Xsy]

Boy, am I bad at this 'keeping to a schedule' thing. Welp, Lockout's not getting any shorter, might as well get this back on track.

Paul Millsap. Is there such thing as a Jazz fan who dislikes Paul Millsap? I don't think it's possible. Paul has been the Jazz PF stud coming off the bench since he came into the league, and has finally become the starting PF we were all hoping the guy could become.



Paul Millsap has proved himself to be one of the toughest, most hard working Jazz players of this generation. Since he was drafted in '06, Millsap has shown nothing but improvement. The guy has a great touch for a PF, with the ability to hit from anywhere within the 2 point range, despite the fact that he has a huge size disadvantage against most of the NBA.

Millsap's biggest weakness is entirely physical. The guy's mental game is seriously elite. One of the toughest workers in the leage, and the guy has only missed 12 games for his entire career. The one thing he can't learn, is size. He has the height of a small forward, and the frame of a power forward, putting the Jazz in an awkward position. With Favors on the roster, we're not sure where that puts Millsap on our priority list. Favors is the poster child for physical size at the 4 in the NBA. Yet he still has everything to prove, where Millsap has nothing to prove. Millsap's problem is that he has less than desired NBA body.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jyv2avqHs4[/youtube]

One of the biggest question marks next season, (whenever that is), is what we're going to do with our big man lineup. There's a good chance either Jefferson or Millsap are on their way out. We have a lot of young talent to develop, and we definitely need help in the back court. Both these guys are great trade bait to score serviceable back court talent and/or good picks. Millsap also has the ability to become SMOTY for Utah, playing in the second unit with Kanter, while Favors starts with Al.

So let's talk, RealGM. What do you think Millsap has in store for this franchise?

[Jazzfan12]

I still don't see why Millsap can't be as good as prime David West was (and Millsap might already be that good already) and a team could pretty easily make it to the WCF with West as their second or third best player. And I think he's better than Al and a much better fit next to Favors since Millsap can shoot much better than Al (a major need for a team that is likely starting Devin Harris and CJ Miles). Plus, if you had Al, Favors, and Kanter, that's three pretty giant guys who might be a little slow for PF (assuming that Favors has put on a lot of muscle) and one quick guy might be preferable. I do think the Jazz will probably trade away Millsap though and I think it'll be a bad move and I'll be pretty sad but hopefully that won't happen.

[babyjax13]

I think he did a great job playing small forward at the end of last year. If we move Miles and don't resign Kirilenko he should be able to play some minutes at the three behind Hayward. That should really improve our perimeter rotation as well.

Jefferson 32/Kanter 16
Favors 30/Millsap 18
Millsap 12/Hayward 20/Evans 16
Hayaward 12/Burks 20/Bell 6
Harris 32/Watson 16

[Jazzfan12]

Millsap at SF saw massive declines in every statistically category (except turnovers which went up) and he played worse defense, he is a PF pretty much exclusively.

[Matt007b]

Keep him, he's awesome.

(I know a real informative post there huh?)

I think it's up to him if he wants to be a 6th man off the bench... if he doesn't like that role - it'll be him deciding to go or not in 2013. I like the lineup of Favors/Jefferson much better than Jefferson/Milsap but at the same time, Milsap is a better player than Favors (for now).

If we want to go big/support rebounding and AK leaves then I think Milsap at the SF position is best.. Nice option to go to small though with Milsap/AK or Milsap/Evans and gives depth at PF...

Difficult choice for KOC with AK/Milsap but I just can't see us doing anything with Milsap, especially at the price we are paying him (low..)

[QuantumMacgyver]

Millsap at SF saw massive declines in every statistically category (except turnovers which went up) and he played worse defense, he is a PF pretty much exclusively.

Can you provide a source here? (I don't mean to call you out, just curious.)

[Jazzfan12]

http://www.82games.com/1011/10UTA11.HTM


It's a very small sample size, but nothing really says he's played well at SF.

[babyjax13]

That was also during a stretch where several of the vets got pulled in favor of the young guys. The only things that really dropped were rebounding and shot blocking, which is to be expected. It's clear, though, that he can at least play part of a game at that position.

[QuantumMacgyver]

http://www.82games.com/1011/10UTA11.HTM


It's a very small sample size, but nothing really says he's played well at SF.

Thanks Jazzfan12! This is really interesting to look at. Thanks again.

[Xsy]

So I re-read this, and it's kind of... scatterbrained sounding.

This is probably because I was really drunk last night when I wrote this.

Oh well.

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

Unless Millsap is ok with coming off the bench in a 6th man role he is going to be traded.

I still don't understand how you guys think he can play the SF position... there is no way he is going to be able to keep up with the SF's of the league. He's been a PF his entire life, he plays like a PF and he's not all a sudden going to be able to switch to an entirely different position/style of play. Its just not happening.

Not sure what games you guys watched but last season when Millsap was at the SF spot he got killed and didn't fit in the offense. I understand everyone here loves him but I think that love overpowers common sense and reality more often than not....

Hell, he struggled as the starting 4 let alone the starting 3!

[babyjax13]

Unless Millsap is ok with coming off the bench in a 6th man role he is going to be traded.

I still don't understand how you guys think he can play the SF position... there is no way he is going to be able to keep up with the SF's of the league. He's been a PF his entire life, he plays like a PF and he's not all a sudden going to be able to switch to an entirely different position/style of play. Its just not happening.

Not sure what games you guys watched but last season when Millsap was at the SF spot he got killed and didn't fit in the offense. I understand everyone here loves him but I think that love overpowers common sense and reality more often than not....

Hell, he struggled as the starting 4 let alone the starting 3!

Against backup 3s he would be fine. He still scored at the same rate, albeit less efficiently (but remember he wasn't as close to the hoop) and played decent enough defense while at that position. I'm not saying to always play him there, but he could certainly play the three and the four a la Thaddeus Young, Josh Smith and Ron Artest.

[carrottop12]

He really is the ideal 6th man, but if you are counting on him as a starting pf that says more about your front court line up then it does about paul millsap. He is phenomenal at coming off the bench after the opposing teams first tier guys are tired or on the bench and simply can't compete with his energy or toughness. He is a go to bench option, but I think proved at times this year that he isn't a go to first option over a full season. If he's the 4th or 5th best player on your team, you are in good shape, if he's top 3 or higher, you aren't in the playoffs unless the two ahead of him are superstars.

If we can get to a point where Jefferson, Hayward, Favors, and Harris are all cleary better than Paul, the jazz are going to be contenders in the new west, if nobody steps up and he's right there with jefferson and Harris, the jazz are going to suck.

[BarneyGumble]

The sad thing about Millsap is he's not able to be productive as a starting PF but if you put him at PF off the bench + a few minutes out of position here and there the guy is unbelievably productive. Hard to part ways with him... but he probably wont embrace a bench role like he did in the past....

[StocktonShorts]

...but he could certainly play the three and the four a la Thaddeus Young, Josh Smith and Ron Artest

Who dat?

[babyjax13]

...but he could certainly play the three and the four a la Thaddeus Young, Josh Smith and Ron Artest

Who dat?

Sorry, I obviously meant Metta World-Peace.

[Jazz_Man_86]

Paul would never go of the bench once again. Let's wait. Until his contract will expire and see how Favors will develop.