Paul Millsap says Hawks didn't even offer a contract for him to stay

Based on what new GM Travis Schlenk said in the past, you could see this one coming.

New Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk’s impact is being felt in Atlanta, as the team reportedly didn’t even make a single contract offer to keep Paul Millsap in Atlanta.

“They didn’t want to make an offer,” Millsap told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So it was pretty simple. Denver was the team.”

In April, Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler was singing a different tune.

“We love Paul Millsap,” he told the AJC. “We are trying to re-sign him. We want him to stay here. We think he is a really special player and a special person that we want on our team and in our locker room and we are going to make every effort imaginable to keep him.”

Since then, the Hawks fired GM Wes Wilcox, and brought on Schlenk, the former Warriors assistant GM. He was far less convincing than Ressler was with regards to Millsap.

“We’d like to have him,” Schlenk told the AJC. “The reality is, he might get better offers than we can make him.”

Millsap is now the second prized free agent the Hawks have let go for nothing in consecutive offseasons. In 2016, Al Horford left for Boston, as the Hawks decided to pay Millsap and Kent Bazemore.

It was obvious the Hawks weren’t going to offer him a max deal this offseason, but for the Hawks to let it get to the point where an offer was not even put on the table is frustrating for fans. The cap space is good, but assets could have been acquired.

Denver has reportedly been after Millsap “for years,” making it an easier decision for Millsap. The Nuggets have a young group of talented players in Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Emmanuel Mudiay that Millsap will be able to help groom as a seasoned veteran.

Millsap spent four seasons in Atlanta, one where he helped lead the Hawks to a 60-win season and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. The entire starting five from that team is now gone with Millsap’s departure — and he was disappointed by the way things turned out.

“I thought I meant a bit more than that to them,” Millsap said. “But it is what it is. I’m happy with the decision I’ve made. I’m happy with the team I’m with. I’m ready to get it going with them.”

There’s no question that Millsap meant more to the fans:

Now that Millsap is gone, the Hawks get to start the rebuilding process — one that we all saw coming.