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The Atlanta Hawks are taking their chances and will not trade Paul Millsap ahead of the February 23rd deadline. Hoop Central recently tweeted, “report: Atlanta’s GM has pulled Paul Millsap off the trade block. No longer taking offers.” The 31-year-old power forward confirmed the news to ESPN.com telling the news organization “now everyone can stop talking about it. I can stop thinking about it and focus on basketball.”
Now, depending on the outcome of the postseason this could be a brilliant tactical move or a foolish missed opportunity. Millsap will be a free agent this summer and can opt out of his contract in Atlanta for greener pastures. Should he opt out, which I personally would strongly suggest he does, he would be leaving the team without any tangible assets in return. For right now Milsap is deflecting any rumors that he will opt out of the last year of his contract but that’s just smart business sense; he’s operating like a player toys with romantic partners, keeping just enough intrigue to keep them around but not committing to a long-term relationship.
Should He Stay or Should He Go?
At the end of the day basketball is a business and a player has a limited time to reach his professional goals so at this rate it would behoove Millsap to take his talents to an established team that has a viable chance of winning in the postseason or else he will retire without a ring just like Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Elgin Baylor, John Stockton and Karl Malone; great players who retired from the game without a championship on their resume. I hope he learns from the past and keeps his options open; it would be a shame for him to waste his talent.