Atlanta Hawks ‘Would Love’ To Re-Sign Paul Millsap This Summer

The Atlanta Hawks could be heading into a tough offseason if or when the 2016-17 campaign comes to an end. Arguably the team’s best player, Paul Millsap, intends to opt out of his contract with Atlanta to test free agency and may very well move on.

Although Millsap is 32, the veteran forward is still playing at a very high level for the Hawks and will be a hot commodity for teams looking for that extra piece to the championship puzzle this summer.

Atlanta, however, hopes Millsap will strongly consider re-signing with the team, via Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“We love Paul Millsap,” Ressler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. “We are trying to re-sign him. We want him to stay here. We think he is a really special player and a special person that we want on our team and in our locker room and we are going to make every effort imaginable to keep him.”

Millsap has a player option on his contract in the final year of his deal with Atlanta at $21.4 million. Although that is a high number, Millsap will want to secure his long-term future in the league with a multi-year contract which will almost certainly be very lucrative with him having had a career year.

The veteran forward has been named an All-Star in all four seasons he’s been with the Hawks. This season he averaged a career-high 18.1 points per game to go along with 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 44.2 percent from the floor.

Despite being 32, Millsap is bound to get his fair share of offers on the free agent market, and it could be tough for the Hawks who always seem to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Eastern Conference to retain him long-term.