Cassius wrote:Priest24 wrote:Nuggets gonna be a problem next year if this dude pans out.
Yup. As long as Millsap refuses to age, SF was the only weak point in the roster and this guy could be as good as anyone else on their team.
They should probably pick up Millsap's $30 million team option for his age 34 season, or better yet, sign him to a more cap friendly 3 year deal. He is clearly not 'refusing to age' and in decline, though his playoff run was solid. He turns 35 in February, and may have only 1 or 2 decent postseason runs left in him. I'm not taking away anything from Millsap, but his future role could be shrinking.
Even without Millsap, the Nuggets would be covered at both forward spots with some depth to spare. If Porter becomes a star, Milsap's importance diminishes substantially. Porter could easily fill a similar role as Hernangomez, as a stretch combo forward---splitting minutes between the 3 and 4---except he presumably would do that at a star level. Craig played 11% of his regular season minutes and 32% of his postseason minutes at the 4, while Plumlee played 32% and 42% at the 4. With Porter, Craig, and Plumlee fully capable of absorbing all of the minutes at PF, Millsap could be seen as expendable. While SF could be seen as a 'weak point' for the Nuggets, they showed to be very deep on the wing, and barely had enough minutes to go around. Barton played the majority of his minutes at SF, including 93% of them in the playoffs. While Barton had a poor showing, he is signed through the '21-'22 season for a combined $41 million, and may be expected to play SF again next season. Ideally, having Craig, Millsap, and Jokic starting, with Barton, Porter, and Plumlee off the bench would create massive depth and positional flexibility, and with the additional big guards they have, Barton could be expendable as well.