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The Millsap dilemma

fallenchicken said:
Honestly, I think Okur is the biggest dilemma we face this offseason. Millsap, if traded will bring us solid return. If not traded he will continue to play great for us next season. I have a hard time imagining any likable offers for Okur. And if not traded, there is no guarantee he will be able to contribute next year.
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I think Memo is done. Right now I'd say he has negative trade value, but he will be an expiring, so it won't be that long before he's an asset again. We might be able to trade him on draft day as part of a package deal, but if not we'll still have a chance to get something for him before the trade deadline, assuming the lockout is over before then.
 
Paul Millsap's game has continued to evolve every season since entering the league, which makes me wonder why the OP is so certain that moving Sap to the 3 fulltime won't work. He's almost a completely different player now than he was entering the league and he continues to evolve. I think he will be able to play the 3 and I think Utah's best option (by far) is moving forward while keeping a Favors-Jefferson-Milllsap frontline intact.
 
Im not opposed to trading Sap if we can get some really good players here, but I dont think we could get equal value. Sap could be our Lamar Odom. A player who is comfortable coming off the bench and can give minutes at the 3 and 4.
 
I like Millsap off of the bench. I don't think Millsap has shown that he's a great starting PF. I doubt moving him to starting SF is the right move. He is to slow to guard most Sf's. I am all for giving it a shot.

I am curious about why people seem to think that Evans is a PF? I think he has the most potential at SF. He does not need to add a lot of weight to play SF and he won't have to worry about loss of athleticism by getting that weight. He will need to learn to shoot better but his release looks good and I think he could play there. He is obviously not ready to start or get major minutes next year but I would like him to be the backup SF next season.
 
I've been strongly against trading Millsap for awhile now, and I've blurted out some thoughts about his SF abilities elsewhere, but I'll say it again.

We don't need Millsap to play more than 7-10 minutes a game at SF in order to get everybody their minutes and starts. Start Paul at SF, and run a couple of early plays through him on the block. He should be able to control most players in this configuration. He has continued to develop his face-up skills all the way out to the three point line, which is ****ing awesome. In short, I don't think offense is the problem. A very well-drilled and schematized defensive scheme is needed, and Paul is going to have to adjust to rebounding from further away from the basket. I hope he shaves about ten pounds, works on his lateral agility, and strengthens his core.

Those people that watched the last handful of games saw plenty of experimentation with this lineup. My favorite play last night was Paul hitting the corner 3. I wonder how the coaching staff and Paul felt about these experiments? It looked promising to me.

You don't trade a guy like Millsap. It is bloody rare to find a guy that has the ability to close games like he does. He can still get the vast majority of his 32-36 minutes at the PF, so what's the problem? Answer: NONE if he can play 7-10 minutes at SF.

(my other favorite play from last night was the give-and-go between Hayward and Jefferson.... MORE OF THAT).
 
Sap can play SF against maybe half of the teams in the league, at best. He is not a starter on an upper tier team. I love Sap and love his game but he is a 6th man.
 
"its an inefficient use of their abilities. Think Dwade and Lebron."

LeBron 26ppg 51% FG 7 assists, 7.5 rebounds Top 3 MVP candidate

Wade 25ppg 6.4rpg 4.6apg Top 10 MVP candidate


Yes horridly inefficient. Only 58 wins? 14-3 to finish the year? Break them up!
 
If Ty tells Sap to prepare for playing the three, I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back leaner and quicker. Sap's biggest asset is that he is a hard worker and I think he could prepare himself to be better to prepare to play the three.
 
I've heard that Millsap is against coming off the bench, but if he knows he will continue to get over 30 minutes it could work. He may not like it at first, but I think it could grow on him getting 30 plus and finishing the game on the court. In my opinion the Jazz biggest area of need is the bench Millsap would go a long way to making it a strength. Trading Millsap I now believe would be a bad idea, unless someone offers a trade we can't refuse.
 
NAOS said:
We don't need Millsap to play more than 7-10 minutes a game at SF in order to get everybody their minutes and starts.
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Starting a guy at a position that he's only going to play 7-10 minutes totals wreaks havoc on your rotation. Assuming your 1st and 3rd quarter starters are the same, who do you pull after 3-5 minutes? It's easy enough to work in if he is starting at a different position, but unless Favors gets lazy over the summer, Millsap doesn't start next year at PF.

If we really have aspirations to be a championship, or even contending, team, we need to have bench players that could start on lesser teams. Millsap is a natural choice for that role. If he doesn't want to fill it, then we should do him the favor of sending him where he wants to go. Wrecking our rotation to keep him does no tmake sense.
 
Everyone seems to have strong opinions about Millsap. Statements of fact abound on both sides...

Good, but not good enough to start on a winning team
Too slow to guard SF's
Too short to guard PF's
Must come off the bench
Must start

The fact is that no team has the perfect player at every position. Millsap is versatile, and very good. Two years ago the statement of fact was that he had no range or outside shot... Now he does.
I remember a time two years ago where Jerry Sloan had him switch late in a game to guard a star SF, and he shut him down to win the game. (Wish I could remember who it was, but I remember thinking it wasn't going to work and being wrong).
He is not a perfect player. There are really only a couple of them in the league at any given time, so trading him for any of the above reasons (facts), seems a bit silly.

The only possible reason to trade him is that he is so valuable you could get a haul in return. I think the Jazz would have to be blown away to consider it. You certainly don't trade him for a middle of the road player who happens to play a position that appears to be a greater need at the moment. Those needs change. Don't overreact to them.

The man is a leader and example to the younger players. Keep him and let him play!!!
 
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