NBA Free Agent Rumor: Paul Millsap will meet with the Nuggets tomorrow

According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, power forward Paul Millsap will visit with the Denver Nuggets tomorrow.

The Denver Nuggets have expressed high interest in Millsap over the years, culminating in two attempts to trade for him, once during last offseason and once during January.

Millsap represents the ideal power forward to pair with Nikola Jokic, averaging over one steal and one block per game during his career. Millsap is an intelligent defender who can shoulder difficult assignments defensively. His offensive game has also grown leaps and bounds during his NBA career. As the unquestioned first option last year for the Atlanta Hawks, Millsap averaged 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. His efficiency wasn’t great, but there were very few playmakers on the Hawks roster to assist him.

The Nuggets would be hoping for the Millsap that played with Al Holford for most of his Hawks career. Horford is as close of a prototype to Jokic as there is in today’s NBA, and with those two, the Hawks earned the top seed in the playoffs in 2014-15. The Nuggets would look to rekindle that two-way excellence out of Millsap as his career winds down.

The biggest question on any contract negotiations is the number of years. Millsap is 32 years old, and he showed his age with regard to his dwindling efficiency last year. There are definitely concerns about his value, especially when talking about the contract he would receive from the Nuggets. Denver can’t get caught up in the deals happening around them though. They need to be smart and either tell Millsap they have to cut the annual salary or cut off the last year.

Whatever the case, the arms race in the Northwest is complete chaos right now, and the Nuggets may struggle to keep up if they don’t make a move.