I haven't heard any rumors about teams meeting with Milsap. And my attempt to seach the googlenet did not turn up any news. I would think that if Al Jefferson is heading to Charlotte, there is a strong possibility Milsap remains in Utah. Has anyone heard anything? Where are all of those people who said it would be Milsap to the Rockets all season?
Whether he is good or not is irrelevant to this discussion. I'm simply curious as to where he will land. Apparently I'm not the only one who hasn't heard any news on the Millsap front.
It's silent re Millsap, same with Pekovic and Bynum. It could be that one of the Mavs/Rockets asked them to hold.
From what I've read Utah talked to him on July 1st about possibly returning, but like all other PF's and C's they're waiting on Howard to gauge demand/market value. The Jazz fans aren't exactly demanding his return so that should tell you something about his true value.
One thing though - if we get Howard, Millsap will be a much better fit at the 4 than Smith. Millsap has a reliable midrange game, which is the difference maker IMO
It's all subjective. David West puts up similar numbers and just got $12M per year. Millsap has always made and will likely continue to make way less.
I've always thought that Millsapp would make a great fit. His range is actually better than Josh Smith, although his defense is worse. His array of post moves would force teams to honor the mid-range area, and that would pretty much make the Rockets an unstoppable offensive juggernaut with the other weapons we already have. I say all this with the caveat that Dwight Howard is on this team; if he doesn't join us then I'd be all for an expensive one year deal which we can opt out of next year if a true superstar PF (Love or LMA) comes loose.
Also, I think it's pretty telling that Millsapp hasn't even begun his tour around the league yet. Clearly he is waiting to see how the market plays out for Josh Smith who is barely above him in terms of demand, and then after that he'll dip his toes into the waters. And of course Josh Smith is waiting on Dwight. Interesting offseason indeed for us Rocket fans.
From a Rockets standpoint, he's essentially a better version of Patrick Patterson. His range, versatility on offense and reputation as a great teammate would make him a great PF to pair up with Dwight. Conversely, Josh Smith is a terrible fit offensively, but impacts the game defensively in ways only a few players can. There's a reason why a guy like Serge Ibaka gets paid $12-13M to do what he does (with similar numbers to Millsap). Josh Smith is in that territory of where you need to pay a little extra for defensive impact as well. We just need to ask ourselves: 1) Who is the better fit next to Dwight and 2) How much "extra" is the defense worth to us?
I'd like to pick him up to pair with Dwight (IMO he's a better fit than Smith, and probably about $2M per year cheaper too). But he's probably waiting to see what teams strike out on Smith or Howard so he can come in.
