Denver Nuggets: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
By Phil Watson
Retaining Paul Millsap
The Denver Nuggets opted in on Paul Millsap, picking up the veteran’s $30.5 million option for 2019-20 the day before he would have re-entered free agency.
Millsap, now 34, isn’t the the player he was when he went to four straight All-Star games with the Atlanta Hawks earlier this decade and $30.5 million is pricey for a veteran 4 who missed 44 games due to injury in 2017-18 and averaged 12.6 points per game last season — the lowest of his career as a starter.
But he got 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 27.1 minutes per game and was efficient, shooting 48.4 percent overall and 36.5 percent on 2.3 3-point tries per game.
Keeping Millsap was necessary insurance as Michael Porter Jr., Denver’s first-round pick in 2018, didn’t play at all last season while recovering from back problems that truncated his collegiate career at the University of Missouri, will need time to get up to NBA speed.
Porter sprained a left knee in practice before Summer League play began, so he’s yet to put on a Nuggets’ uniform in sanctioned competition.
This will likely be the last big pay day of Millsap’s career — he will have a $40.95 million cap hold next summer and it’s likely the Nuggets will renounced his rights faster than you can blink.
Millsap’s minutes will have to be monitored — last season’s average was his lowest since he was a reserve with the Utah Jazz in 2007-08, his second NBA season, but he stepped up with 14.6 points per game in the playoffs for the Nuggets, playing 33.5 minutes a night.
The move enabled Denver to retain its $9.2 million Mid-Level Exception for this season and still avoid going into the luxury tax, so from that standpoint it made sense for the Nuggets to opt in, as well.
But it’s obvious Millsap’s role is to keep the spot warm for either Porter or rookie Bol Bol for 2020-21 … or sooner.