Why Millsap makes sense
I have wanted Millsap on our team for years. He's an incredibly valuable player and I think his game will age well. He's 32, but he's only played around 25,000 minutes, including the playoffs. I thought he would have slipped this year, but he's still as strong as ever. Top 3 in RPM among PFs. A guy like that would be worth a lot in most cases. The only problem is his contract situation. Had the hawks traded him earlier, the offers would be much better.
Let's take a look at the teams interested. Sixers, Nuggets, Pelicans, Raptors, kings.
Pelicans offered this: A protected pick( essentially a non-lottery pick), a 2nd rounder and salary fillers.
http://legionhoops.com/pelicans-make-offer-for-paul-millsap/
The kings? Can't offer anything good. Haha. Not even going to say anything.
Sixers? I'm not sure what they would offer. The hardest problem they will have is matching salary.
Nuggets offered: Faried+ picks.
http://bsndenver.com/nuggets-nearly-acquired-hawks-paul-millsap-per-report/
Denver would be our only real competition. They could offer an interesting package of Faried, Gary harris and salary filler+ pick.
Toronto(us): Asking price was Ross+ PP.
http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2017/01/latest-on-paul-millsap-3.html
I have no problem including Ross in a deal, but not PP. My deal breakers are PP, Wright and Powell, because we need to keep our bench guys that are affordable and productive. PP is insurance in case Millsap leaves and I envision playing both PP and Millsap at the same time. PP himself is top in 10 RPM among PF's. Having both PP and Millsap would solidify our power forward position and allow us to counter small ball lineups with our own.
That being said, I wouldn't be unreasonable. In exchange for not including PP, I would be willing to add any combination of 2 first round picks this year or Jakob Poetl. One or the other.
I'm willing to consider a trade around Terrence Ross+ Cory Joseph+ Siakim and 2017 LAC, 2017 Raps for Millsap and Sefolsha
or Terrence, Cory, Siakim, Poetl= For Millsap and Sefolsha
I think these are reasonable trade proposals given the circumstances. Ross is a very solid SG, that we are playing out of position, because DD is playing the 2 and on an affordable contract. The SG is a pretty shallow position and I think he's starter material under the right team. Cory is still young and a backup pg. Siakim is a hyper athletic 6'10 power forward with a 7'3 wingspan. Poetl is a 7'0 center that moves his feet very well, with good hands. Any combination of these sounds fair to me. You know and I know that if Millsap was under a longer contract, this offer wouldn't even stand a chance, because Millsap is clearly the best player of the bunch.
I do think acquiring millsap is worth the risk. This is what our salary cap looks like.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/TOR.html
Assuming we stand pat and we resign Lowry and PP at 35 million and 15 at least, we would be at 140 million in committed salaries with only 13 roster spots. 18 million over the luxury tax(122 million) would be a tax bill of 38.50 for a total of 178.50. That is a huge bill. I essentially think we can't properly improve if we stand pat. We would only have the bi-annual exception, MLE and the vet min to sign any worthwhile guys and the way our roster is, I don't think we can take the next step.
Acquiring Millsap's bird rights would be a huge boon for a team like us that is over the cap. I have no problem offering Millsap the max for 5 years, because his prime would align with our best player Kyle Lowry who is playing at a +7 BPM level, top 10 among all players in the league. He is essentially the only real reason why we are winning. A guy like Millsap is the kind of ideal player next to DD and Lowry. We need a capable defender that can shoot the 3, make plays and score when necessary. We need a "pressure release," a guy that can take the pressure of Kyle and Demar if teams blitz them. Millsap pretty much fits that to a tee and my ideal fit next to Kyle and Demar. If we do sign Millsap at the max, this is what I envision our roster looking like.
PG: Lowry, Wright, Vanvleet( approximately around 38.5)
SG: DD, Powell( 29 million)
SF: Sef/ FA SF, FA SF( 5 million)
PF: Millsap, PP( 50)
C: Bebe, FA C or Jakob Poetl if he is not included in a deal. ( 4 million)
That's 11 spots filled. 126.5 million, just doing rough estimates. We would need to fill out 4 spots with cheap options which I have full confidence with Masai doing because he has proven to be adept at finding value. The luxury tax wouldn't be too outrageous either and if I'm going to go over the luxury tax anyway, it better be with a team that has much more talent.
All things considered, I think we would be pretty interested in Millsap and I for one doubt that he is truly pulled off the market, despite ATL's winning streak. ATL's owner/GM has asked for "offers that wow him" but he's only got salary fillers+ late first offers. Essentially complete garbage offers that you can get anytime. I do think it makes sense for us to trade for him and I do think that it will help us maximize this window of being good. We might never reach the finals, even with this team, but I have no problem with sustained winning. There are worse things than reaching the ECF and respectfully bowing out in a hard fought match.