Paul Millsap, Nuggets Agree to 1-Year Contract for at Least $10 Million

The Denver Nuggets and forward Paul Millsap agreed to a one-year deal Saturday.

Millsap's agent, DeAngelo Simmons, told Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium that Millsap will earn more than $10 million on his new contract.

Denver was able to keep Millsap despite Jared Weiss of The Athletic reporting the Boston Celtics also had interest in the veteran forward after losing Gordon Hayward. 

Millsap, 35, spent the last three seasons in Denver after inking a $90 million contract in 2017. His playing time dropped in each of his three years with the Nuggets, but he remained a solid rotation piece—albeit not one quite worthy of his $30 million price tag.

Millsap averaged 11.6 points and 5.7 rebounds while being limited to 51 games because of a knee injury. Those numbers marked Millsap's worst performance in more than a decade, a trend that continued as he struggled mightily after the NBA's resumption in Orlando.

"I feel great, my body feels unbelievable at this stage of my career. Sometimes I have to remind myself I'm 35, I don't feel it," Millsap told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. 

Millsap was always bound to take a significant pay cut on his next contract given his age and declining production, but it's likely financial uncertainty because of lost revenue from the pandemic affected him—along with nearly every free agent on the market.

The NBA and NBPA were able to agree to a flat cap from the 2019-20 season, but that still gave teams less maneuverability than expected based on original revenue projections. 

It's also possible this will serve as the last contract of Millsap's career. He is one of only a handful of players remaining from the 2006 NBA draft class and entered that draft older than most of his contemporaries after spending three years at Louisiana Tech.