Denver Nuggets Sign Paul Millsap
A lot can change in a few days.
When the free agency period began, the New York Daily News' Frank Isola revealed that the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves emerged as frontrunners for Paul Millsap's signature, while the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings were in the mix as well.
But a couple of days later, National Basketball Association (NBA) insider Adrian Wojnarowski said the Suns have decided to go all-in on their youth movement, and TNT's David Aldridge reported that the Timberwolves may be out of the race as well. That's likely accurate because they just signed Taj Gibson.
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This leaves the door open for the Nuggets to entice Millsap to sign with them. And they succeeded.
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Millsap has agreed to sign a three-year, $90 million deal to join the Nuggets.
Wojnarowski said Nuggets front office executives Josh Kroenke and Tim Connelly, head coach Michael Malone, and up-and-coming guard Gary Harris all headed to Atlanta to convince the All-Star forward to join them. CBS' Matt Moore reported that several Denver Broncos players also helped the Nuggets persuade Millsap.
Millsap is a great addition to the team. The Nuggets will still have a hard time making the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference. But Millsap is a huge upgrade over the other power forwards they have in their lineup, and he will give them a versatile player to pair alongside Nikola Jokić.
Meanwhile, several observers noted that the Nuggets should consider doing a sign-and-trade with the Hawks, but that may no longer be an option. The team is loaded at the four spot right now and unloading a few of their players seems like a good idea.
Danilo Gallinari is probably going to be playing elsewhere next season now that Millsap is in the fold.
