The Atlanta Hawks are making Paul Millsap available. How could the Miami Heat land the All-Star forward?
Add Paul Millsap’s name to the list of players who could be on the move by the NBA trade deadline. According to ESPN, the Atlanta Hawks have begun listening to trade pitches for the All-Star forward, fearful that he’ll leave in free agency. Millsap, 31, has a player option after this season.
If Pat Riley decided he wanted to forgo a long rebuild in favor of adding veteran who can win now, Millsap is a name that makes sense. Millsap is one of the more versatile forwards in the league. He can make three-pointers, drive to the rim, pass and defend at an all-NBA level. He’d slide in nicely in Chris Bosh’s vacated position.
Read more: When does it make sense to trade Goran Dragic?
So, if Riley and the Heat decided to go this route, what would a Millsap trade even look like?
First, a note: We have to assume that because Millsap holds a player option that many teams with more assets than the Heat would rather not trade for him. That opens up the Heat as a possible landing spot even though they may not be able to put together as enticing a package. Riley might bank on the idea that once Millsap is here, he can convince him to re-sign.
Okay, so how would this work?
The Heat don’t have much to offer straight up for Millsap. It’s not clear if the Hawks want to get younger, and departing with Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson and/or Josh Richardson is a steep price to pay for a player who could walk away after the season. Seemingly committed to Dennis Schroder, Atlanta isn’t probably wouldn’t be interested in Goran Dragic.
We need a third team.
Dragic is Miami’s most moveable piece, so who wants Dragic? What about the Denver Nuggets? Emmanuel Mudiay isn’t ready to lead that offense, and a point guard of Dragic’s caliber could lift them to playoff contention.
The Nuggets have a couple of pieces that could work in Atlanta. Replacing Millsap with Danillo Gallinari would be a nice fit next to Dwight Howard. Throw in Kenneth Faried to make salaries work and provide some rebounding, and that could be enough to entice the Hawks.
Miami would get Millsap and Thabo Sefolosha.
So, to recap:
Atlanta gets: Gallinari and Faried
Denver gets: Dragic and Josh McRoberts (for salary-matching purposes)
Miami gets: Millsap and Sefolosha
The risk here is that Miami isn’t getting any future assets back, and so would have to feel confident they could re-sign Millsap. They would also be out of a starting caliber point guard, but still have its pick so they could draft one.
I don’t love the trade for the Heat. It’s too risky and it makes more sense to chase him down in free agency. But, if it were to happen, it would look something like this.