Nets Get High Marks With Millsap Signing
I’d like to think that Sean Marks reads my newsletter, but I know better.
No matter, the Nets General Manager should be praised today after Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Brooklyn will be signing free agent forward Paul Millsap to a veteran minimum contract.
I’ve been musing (pining?) about how Millsap could be the missing piece to this team for years and, although he’s now 36 and coming off a down year in Denver, I still think he fits rather nicely.
Millsap was reportedly looking for an opportunity to play a role on a contending team, so give Marks credit if he was the one to convince him that he is ripe to fill the 15-20 minutes per game slot previously occupied by jack-of-all-trades Jeff Green, who, ironically, chose to sign with the Nuggets earlier in free agency.
Now that Millsap completes the effective swap with Green, Marks has the Nets roster much more in balance. As I wrote last week, Nets Head Coach Steve Nash can continue to be flexible with his lineups, since the six-foot seven Millsap is both stout enough to defend and rebound around the basket and efficient shooting 3’s from the corners (though he struggled on above-the-break three-pointers last season, which diminished his playing time in Denver). Nash will always find a way to make small-ball work, but now he also has the option to throw out a larger-sized frontcourt with Kevin Durant, Millsap and one of Brooklyn’s centers (Blake Griffin or Nicolas Claxton).
As such, I feel comfortable enough to project that only a devastating slew of injuries will prevent the Nets from capturing their first NBA Championship.
The Nets just whizzed past the Bucks, the Hawks are too one-dimensional offensively to challenge them, the Heat are too one-dimensional defensively, and the Sixers are disintegrating into a bloody mess before our eyes. Forget the Lakers as well. Who is stopping a lineup that’s as versatile as Brooklyn’s, with Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden all among the top seven isolation scorers in the league last season in terms of points per possession (minimum two isolation plays per game, per NBA.com); Joe Harris and Blake Griffin spacing the floor as starters; and Millsap and Patty Mills off the bench? For added defense, the Nets can sprinkle in a host of options, from Bruce Brown and DeAndre’ Bembry on the perimeter to Nicolas Claxton and James Johnson in the paint.
Obviously, the Irving and Harden injuries were the biggest reasons their run to the 2021 title was halted, but as historically prolific as the Nets’ offense was last season, averaging an NBA-record 117.3 points per 100 possessions, I was always concerned that they didn’t have that P.J. Tucker-type grinder to do some of the dirty work that’s always needed to go all the way.
Millsap is that kind of player, with a high defensive IQ, sneaky hands to generate steals and deflections, and the bulk to not get shoved around underneath when battling for rebounds. The icing on the cake is that opponents risk getting burned from the corners if you slough off him to give added help on any of Brooklyn’s Big 3—to add to my note from last week, Millsap knocked those down at better than a 42% clip in each of the last five seasons.
The Nets will need to make a cut to their roster to get down to 15, but that shouldn’t be too difficult, even if management and center DeAndre Jordan can’t agree before the start of the season to the buyout provisions in the negotiations reported by Charania, since forward Alize Johnson’s contract isn’t guaranteed.
Marks set this up perfectly, Nets fans. Now it’s up to the Injury Gods to see it through to a glorious fruition..
NBA.com