And the Western Conference gets even more difficult. Linked to All-Star big man Paul Millsap for the past couple days, the Denver Nuggets have reportedly closed the deal on the former Atlanta Hawks forward.
According to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, Denver has signed Millsap to a three-year, $90 million contract.
Free agent Paul Millsap has agreed to a three-year, $90M with the Denver Nuggets, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 3, 2017
This is some rather huge news in the Western Conference. It also immediately makes Denver a contender for one of the final playoff spots heading into the 2017-18 season.
Millsap, 32, has earned an All-Star appearance in each of the past four seasons. He averaged 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting at a 44 percent clip for Atlanta in 2016-17.
With Millsap now aboard, we can fully expect free agent Danilo Gallinari to leave for another team. But this is a dramatic upgrade at the four position for the Nuggets.
Millsap will now team up with Garry Harris, Nikola Jokic, Kenneth Faried and Jamal Murray to form a stellar starting five for the Nuggets moving forward.