The Denver Nuggets finally landed a big free agent by agreeing to terms with All-Star forward Paul Millsap on a three-year, $90 million-dollar deal, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.
The deal was a power move for the Nuggets who have been searching for a proven NBA talent for some time now.
After whiffing on Jimmy Butler, Paul George, and Kevin Love, Denver was finally able to seal the deal to bring in the 4x All-Star, a move that will certainly give the Nuggets front office a level of credibility they have lacked for some time.
The Nuggets front office has been aggressive in their pursuit of star talent, but over the course of the past year and a half or so, they had built the reputation of swinging and missing when it came to acquiring premium talent. Before signing Millsap, the Nuggets observed from the sidelines as Western Conference team’s like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets took significant steps forward in their chase for a championship.
With their backs against the wall, the Nuggets front office was under pressure to deliver to keep pace and relevance with the rest of the Western Conference. The signing of Millsap did just that.
Millsap seems to have been the Nuggets guy all along.
Denver and Millsap have been linked for some time now. Last summer, Denver nearly traded for Millsap, according to Zach Lowe, making it clear the Nuggets have had their eye on him for some time, and for a good reason.
Millsap checks all of the boxes for what Denver needs both now and in the future. Millsap is one of the more versatile forwards in the NBA, who is capable of playing both ways on the floor at a high level. Most importantly, he can play tenacious defense and is an ideal fit next to Denver’s cornerstone, Nikola Jokic.
Millsap will be joining the crop of promising youngsters Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly and company have worked to assemble over his tenure with the team. He’s an ideal fit that will help the youth movement grow and mature for the future, as well as make them a playoff contender in the coming season.
The signing was a no-brainer for both sides. For the front office, they finally landed their big fish, and for Millsap, he has an opportunity to build something special in Denver.
“It was pretty simple,” Millsap told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday. “Denver, they came, and they’ve been wanting me for years. They made that known. The presentation that they gave me, it felt comfortable, it felt real. At the end of the day, it was going to be the team that I felt most comfortable with. Atlanta decided to go another direction. They didn’t want to make an offer. So it was pretty simple. Denver was the team.”
Since the departure of Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets have been virtually irrelevant in the NBA. Aside from a couple of highlights here or there, Denver has been consistently overlooked in large because of their shortage of supreme talent.
The addition of Millsap helps legitimize the Nuggets both on the court and to fans around the league. For the first time in nearly half a decade, the Nuggets have a formidable core to build around that has the potential to blossom into one of the better units in the NBA.
The signing is a reflection of ownerships dedication to winning, something the fanbase has questioned over the past couple of seasons. All in all, the signing of Millsap was necessary to keep pace with the rest of the conference and prove to their current players that this team is serious about contending in the near future.
Most importantly, it eliminates the stipulations that the Nuggets front office is unable to lure the kind of talent it takes to win in the NBA.
