Paul Millsap Re-Signs with Hawks: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

Forward Paul Millsap has been fantastic since joining the Atlanta Hawks two years ago, and he decided to extend his stay Wednesday by re-signing with the reigning regular-season Eastern Conference champions. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed the deal was officially signed July 9. 

According to ESPN's Chris Broussard, the 30-year-old veteran inked a three-year, $59 million deal to remain with the Hawks. Shams Charania of RealGM reported the contract likely features a third-year option.

Millsap expressed his feelings regarding the news via Twitter: 

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On the heels of seven strong years with the Utah Jazz, Millsap jumped ship to Atlanta. The former Louisiana Tech standout kicked his play up a notch with the Hawks and developed into one of the NBA's best power forwards.

Millsap is viewed as somewhat undersized at 6'8", but that hasn't stopped him from being effective as a scorer and rebounder.

The former second-round pick has been an All-Star selection in each of the past two seasons. He is coming off a 2014-15 campaign that saw him put up nearly 17 points and eight rebounds per game in an Atlanta offense that spread the wealth.

When asked about his impending free agency during the season, Millsap suggested he favored playing in that type of system, per Michael Pina of Rolling Stone:

"

Absolutely. One of the few things we talked about (two summers ago) was going to an unselfish team. Having the opportunity to play for a good coach, with an unselfish mentality. And that's one of the selling points for me.

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In addition to that, Millsap revealed there were several different factors to consider before making a decision about whom to sign with, according to Simon Legg of NBA Australia:

"I'm not one to base my decisions off emotions, I base my decisions off everything else, where my team is at, can I go with this team, how's the coach, how's the community," Millsap said. "There are a lot of things that factor into it."

Money was also something that likely came into play. During the 2014-15 season, Adi Joseph of Sporting News suggested Millsap could be a max-contract player:

Such a big financial commitment could have scared the Hawks away, but they ultimately decided to make a competitive offer in order to keep one of their top players in-house.

Atlanta is a deep team that has a chance to be very good once again in 2015-16 and beyond. With Millsap back in the fold alongside players like Jeff Teague, Al Horford and Kyle Korver, another deep run is very much possible.

Losing Millsap would have been a major blow to the franchise's hopes of sustained success, but now that he is part of the puzzle moving forward, there is plenty of reason for excitement in Atlanta.      

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.