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Denver Nuggets: Paul Millsap’s Contract

By Michael Mannen

DENVER, CO - APRIL 3: Paul Millsap #4 of the Denver Nuggets seen during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on April 3, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 3: Paul Millsap #4 of the Denver Nuggets seen during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on April 3, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Paul Millsap has been a great power forward for the Denver Nuggets. However, at the price tag of roughly $30 million dollars a year, it maybe time to let him go.

Despite the legendary Denver Nuggets power forward Paul Millsap having a great regular season, at roughly $30 Million dollars, he is not worth keeping for the 2019-20 season.

For the 2019-2020 season, Paul Millsap has a team option that the Nuggets can exercise. The team option gives the Denver Nuggets the rights to keep Millsap for another year at $30,500,000.  

If the Nuggets elect to not bring Paul Millsap back next season, it will free up nearly $30 million dollars in additionally cap space to enable the Denver Nuggets sign new players next season.

Considering what other NBA players make, playing roughly $30 million dollars a year for Paul Millsap is an excessive amount. An extremely excessive amount. A stupidly excessive amount

Considering what some NBA players are paid these days, the Denver Nuggets got a raw deal with Paul Millsap.

Tim Hardaway Jr. made $18,975,000 this season with the Mavericks. For the 2018-19 season he averaged 18.1 PPG on 31.6 MPG. He is also 26 years old.

At the end of last season, Lou Williams signed a 3 year / $24,000,000 contract with the Los Angeles Clippers that extends to 2020-21. This season, Lou Williams is playing 26.5 MPG and averaging 20.3 PPG for the clippers

Other teams are getting much more for the money they are paying players. Millsap is 34 years old and averaged 12.6 PPG for the Nuggets in the 2018-19 regular season.He is the second highest paid power forward in the NBA behind Blake Griffin.

However, despite his game statistics. More advanced metrics indicate that Millsap contributes greatly to Denver Defensively and that he is key to helping the team win. Denver was 5-7 in Games without Millsap this regular  season. Moreover, according to the NBA Real Plus-Minus metric, Paul Millsap’s win shares were the second highest on the Nugget’s team. He was substantially ahead of Jamal Murray in win shares this regular season.  

Despite playing well during the regular season, Millsap just did not show up in big moments in the playoffs. For example, Paul Millsap scored 10 points in game 7 against the Trail Blazers and was 4 for 6 from the free throw line. Keep in mind the Nuggets only lost by 4 points. And in Game 7 against the Spurs, Millsap scored only 9 points. Most teams would consider this to be unacceptable for a player making roughly $30 million dollars a year.

If Denver is going to advance in the playoffs, they would probably be better off pursuing other players than Paul Millsap. And in a league that revolves around the three-point shot, building a team around an aging Paul Millsap is not the best idea.

Moreover, there are a plethora of power forwards that are available in the summer of 2019. Including Tobias Harris, Julius Randle,  Nikola Mirotic, Marcus Morris, Thaddeus Young,  Al-Farouq Aminu, Taj Gibson, Jeff Green, and Kenneth Faried. All of which had at least as good a season as Millsap and could be signed for a much lower price.

However, Paul Millsap is still a great player. The Nuggets may also elect to keep Paul Millsap at a lower price if they wish. The Nuggets may negate Millsap’s team option and sign him on a new longterm at a lower price.

Given the current NBA market, it just may be time for the Denver Nuggets to let Millsap go this offseason.

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