NBA Rumors: Best Destinations for Utah Jazz Forward Paul Millsap
The Utah Jazz have a logjam at forward and need to make a move.
Paul Millsap averaged 17.3 points and 7.6 rebounds last season as one of the more underrated players in the league. At 6'8", 250 pounds Millsap has an NBA body that is impossible to move in the paint. Yet his 53 percent career shooting average suggests he has a soft touch as well.
With No. 3 overall pick Enes Kanter coming to town, and Al Jefferson, Andrei Kirilenko and Derrick Favors also in the mix, there just aren’t enough touches to go around.
Millsap is scheduled to make $6.7M this season and $7.2M for the 2012-13 campaign, which means he is very attractive to teams with any sort of cap space. Here are three potential destinations that the Jazz can flip for additional help in the backcourt:
The Pacers were gashed in the paint by the Bulls in the playoffs and need a player with Millsap’s size to help anchor the middle alongside Roy Hibbert.
To make this deal even more of a reality is that Indiana player personnel director Kevin Pritchard attempted to sign Millsap when he was with the Trail Blazers back in 2009.
The Jazz have shown interest in the Pacers’ James Posey in the past, and would be a big piece of a potential trade.
It looks like Nene is going to be gone and that leaves a huge void in the paint for Denver. Millsap is already very familiar with the division and can bring a sense of toughness to a team that has been lacking it for a long time.
He has the athleticism and conditioning to keep up with the No. 1 ranked offense in the league, and can keep up with all of the speed in the Mile High City.
They have a bevy of talent thanks to the ‘Melo trade and can surely mix-and-match two-to-three players that Utah has an eye on.
With David West likely to sign elsewhere, Millsap could be the perfect pick-and-roll partner for Chris Paul. The Hornets got pushed around by the Lakers in the playoffs down low and need to add lots of bulk and toughness in the paint.
They don’t have a ton of trade assets—how about draft picks?
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