NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 potential destinations for Paul Millsap
By John Buhler
Utah Jazz
West, Northwest
Could Millsap be returning to a familiar place in 2017 NBA free agency? The Utah Jazz could be in line for a forward this summer, especially if small forward Gordon Hayward leaves in his unrestricted free agency. Would Millsap be up for a return to the Great Salt Lake?
The Jazz feel like a different organization from when Millsap first left them in summer 2013 to sign with the Atlanta Hawks. Hayward wasn’t yet an All-Star. Center Rudy Gobert wasn’t on the team yet. Head coach Quin Snyder was new Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer’s top assistant.
Though Snyder only spent a year with the Hawks before taking the Jazz gig, he successfully re-invented himself as a coach keen on player development. Millsap’s growth in Atlanta during the 2013-14 NBA season was largely attributed to Snyder. Since he’s already very familiar with the Salt Lake City area and Snyder, a Jazz reunion could be on the docket for Millsap this summer.
By going back to Utah, he’d have a better chance of going deeper in the NBA Playoffs initially than if he were to re-up with the Hawks for a second time. If somehow the Jazz are able to keep Hayward, point guard George Hill and sign Millsap this summer, this could be the best team in the Western Conference not named the Golden State Warriors.
However, going back to the Jazz could open up some old wounds for Millsap. They didn’t let him shoot threes and he was just a good starting power forward for the Jazz, not a great one. In Atlanta, he’s quickly becoming one of the better players in Hawks history. It’d be hard to leave the Hawks, but Utah is more appealing of a free agent destination that frankly it has ever been.