Atlanta Hawks foward Paul Millsap has a big decision in free agency and it'll come down to the Orlando Magic and the Hawks.
According to David Aldridge, Millsap met with the Magic at 12:01 A.M. in Atlanta. Orlando offered him a four-year, $80 million max deal. Orlando was not one of the speculated teams that Millsap was interested in at the beginning of free agency, but he may be the key to keeping Orlando competitive in the case that they lose restricted free agent Tobias Harris in free agency.
Millsap averaged 17.3 PPG in his two seasons with the Hawks. His stint in Atlanta has also consisted of two All-Star game appearances. Millsap joined the Hawks in the summer of 2013 by signing a two-year deal in free agency. He spent seven seasons with the Utah Jazz prior to joining Atlanta.
Millsap would be joining a young core in Orlando that struggled in 2014-15 as they finished the season with a record of 25-57. Inexperience plays a factor but the Magic have a talented roster that consists of Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Tobias Harris.
A possible scenario is a sign-and-trade that would result in Tobias Harris going to Atlanta and Paul Millsap going to the Magic. Harris to Atlanta would be a good move in the case that free agent small forward DeMarre Carroll leave in free agency as Carroll is an unrestricted free agent. Departures of Carroll and Millsap would clear more cap space for Atlanta. The Hawks were able to clear a lot of their cap space in 2012 after trading Joe Johnson to the Brooklyn Nets. Atlanta would also able be able to go after their long desired true center such as Robin Lopez, Tyson Chandler, or Bismack Byombo.
Millsap's effective play for Atlanta was fully displayed in his two years with the team. He almost single handedly carried the Hawks in 2013-14 when Al Horford went down for nearly the entire season with a pectoral injury that caused Atlanta to fall to the eighth seed. This season, he was able to develop an effective mid-range game and an ability to knock down shots from behind the three-point line.