Paul Millsap’s Departure Should Come as No Surprise
The last key piece of the 2015 Hawks has left the building.
The Atlanta Hawks have lost their best player of the last 4 years and one of the most versatile forwards in the league.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, seeing as Phillips Arena is amidst a $192 million renovation, months before the start of their G-League team’s first season and the introduction of new GM Travis Schlenk (with Golden State pedigree) just weeks ago. There’s been a shift taking place in “The A” for quite some time now that ultimately led to Millsap’s decision. Some good, some bad, but in the end not enough to convince the 32-year old to stay put.
The indecisiveness between Mike Budenholzer and Wes Wilcox on whether to trade Al Horford at the trade deadline last season ended with Millsap losing a frontcourt mate that he had built a strong cohesion with. Veteran guard Jeff Teague was then traded and a 23-year-old Dennis Schroder, perceived to have a higher ceiling, stepped into the driver’s seat.
But with the numbers he’s putting up at this point in his career Millsap is not quite ready to step into a patient guidance counselor role. Additionally, if you take a look at his minutes per game last season (34) you will find they match that of his 5th year, when he was 25 years old.
A minute increase caused by fluctuations in rotations highlighted the Hawks’ lack of talent, especially scoring the ball, and in return wore on him, his knees and his trust in Budenholzer and in ownership.
The franchise has sustained success over recent years due to Budenholzer’s style of basketball, but Millsap was the engine. He never ranked lower than 50th in win shares as a Hawk. Be it as it may, regression has taken place simultaneously. Millsap and company have exited the playoffs a round earlier every year since reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015. First a sweep in the 2016 semi-finals against Cleveland, then a first round bounce this past April. Tragically, a 16 point defeat in game six to the Washington Wizards on his home floor despite scoring 31 points is his lasting impression.
Millsap’s departure shouldn’t incite any backlash directed towards him from anyone. The all-purpose blue-collar type of game he displayed night in and night out was as reliable as you could find in this league. To be frank he’s been overlooked and underappreciated much of his career — so any feigned outrage or crocodile tears shouldn’t be tolerated. All good things come to an end eventually by the powers that be.
He was the Atlanta Hawks’ trusted catalyst, but now its time to move on — for the sake of both parties. Atlanta can now turn the page and begin a new chapter with $30 million in cap space. Now having space and flexibility, two keys of emphasis Schlenk has spoken in favor for publicly, they are in position to accumulate adequate assets as teams around the league start to run out of space.
The foundation of youth has started to take shape with Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Bembry and John Collins. Losing a cornerstone piece like Millsap takes some pressure off of those guys for the time being, but not management, who must now show there is a well-thought-out plan in place that the fanbase should buy into.
Schlenk and company are now on the clock.
