Meet
RumorMill: Millsap-Gasol Trade
Posted by: KCJones on December 12th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Ok there’s not a real rumor, but a hypothetical “what if” article with some “here’s why it makes sense” backing it up.
Check out the original article here (ESPN Rip-off Insider for full article) Millsap for Gasol.
By the way, I don’t pay for Insider, so if someone wants to post the whole article here, that would rock.
Just wondering people’s thoughts on this. For me, there’s a big probability Millsap gets an offer too big and too long for the Jazz to compete with and leaves in free agency, so even though I love Millsap, it might just be better for the team long-term, depending on what we could get back in a trade, even if it were just future first rounders.
Replies: 20
Views: 1582
* * 3 Votes
20 Responses
i don’t think i like the deal. Even though we recieve Pau and Kemba Walker, i don’t like the thought of giving up Al, Paul, Mo, and Enes. Thats too much to give up, to bring back an aging 7 footer and another shoot-first PG?
I’ll pass.
Yeah let’s totally trade Kanter.
F*cking idiots!
The proposal was that Utah send Mo Williams and Paul Millsap to LA, and sends Al Jefferson and Enes Kanter to Charlotte in return for Pau Gasol, Kemba Walker, Diop and Smith.
I know people are really thinking that Utah needs to move Jefferson or Millsap, but when did they become as desperate to pull off something crazy as this hypothetical gem?
I’m already submitting my article for review by the ESPN editors on how Utah should trade Millsap, Jefferson, Favors and Hayward for Brain Scalabrine, Stuff the Magic dragon and a ham sammich.
What a stupid article. And ESPN makes you pay to read that?
If Paul Millsap isn’t trying to audition for a Hollywood role, he sure does look the part.
We’ve heard all sorts of names connected to the Lakers in possible trade talks for Pau Gasol, including Toronto Raptors 7-footer Andrea Bargnani, Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams and Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova.
Must watch on ESPN
Don’t miss the Utah Jazz as they take on Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs tonight at 10:30 EST on ESPN.
But one name that should pop up more is Millsap, the Utah Jazz big man. There are a few reasons Millsap probably doesn’t garner the attention of a player his caliber: 1) He plays in a small market; 2) he’s stuck in a logjam of big men in Utah with varying degrees of upside and productivity; and 3) he doesn’t have a flashy game (he dunks about once every three games).
However, Millsap makes a lot of sense as a trade target for the madly inconsistent Lakers. For one, he’s healthy, which is no small thing considering the Lakers’ bench looks increasingly like a hospital waiting room (and Bargnani just went down with an elbow injury). Secondly, Millsap’s an efficient player who plays both ends of the floor. Here’s a short list of players who have shot more than 50 percent from the floor while tallying at least 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 steals over the past three seasons: LeBron James, Dwight Howard and, yep, Millsap.
Here’s a look at the positive and negative aspects of Millsap’s potential move to the Lakers — as well as a blockbuster three-team deal that would likely work for all clubs involved.
Millsap’s candidacy
What’s more, Millsap’s contract couldn’t be more attractive in trade talks with the Lakers. Millsap makes only $8 million this season and his contract expires at season’s end, which is hugely important for a Lakers franchise that has made it known they want to stay flexible for a loaded free-agent class in the summer of 2014 when Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other stars can become free agents.
In Millsap, the Lakers could get a trial period on an All-Star-caliber player and decide if they want to keep him long term. The same can’t be said for Gallinari, Bargnani or Ilyasova, all of whom are currently locked in multiyear deals that extend past 2014. If Millsap doesn’t work out, the Lakers can cut bait and look elsewhere. (And good luck trying to trade Ilyasova and the $24 million remaining on his contract through 2016-17 if Mike D’Antoni can’t fix his jumper.)
Defensively, Millsap can cure many of the Lakers’ ills. As Antawn Jamison continues to play possum on that end of the floor, the Lakers desperately need a help defender who doesn’t leave Howard out to dry every time down the court. Millsap isn’t an all-world defender, but with mobility at 6-foot-8, he can hold his own as a small forward defender and has the girth to play in the paint. What separates Millsap from most power forwards is his nose for the ball; he ranked fourth in the NBA last season in steals per game, thanks in part to his freakishly long arms.
[+] Enlarge
Russ Isabella/US Presswire
A change of scenery could benefit both Millsap and Pau Gasol — and their new teams.
But the real reason Millsap provides an intriguing option for the Lakers is his blossoming 3-point game. If a big man wants to make bank in this league, there’s no better way than to become a reliable 3-point shooter. And in a contract season, Millsap is trying to do just that. After essentially ignoring the 3-point shot for most of his career, the Louisiana Tech product is now taking about one 3-pointer per game and nailing them at a 47.8 percent clip. Not a bad start.
It’s too early to tell whether Millsap’s 3-point shot is legitimate, but he’s always been a strong candidate to stretch beyond the arc simply because he’s already armed with a good midrange jumper. The Lakers aren’t going to be able to lure a Kevin Love-type stretch 4 with Gasol’s trade value in free fall, so finding a 3-point shooter who’s waiting to break out may be their best option. Millsap fits the mold.
The hitch
But here’s the problem with a potential deal with the Lakers: The last thing the Jazz need is another center. Millsap could be expendable for the Jazz because they already have a blooming power forward in Derrick Favors waiting in the wings, but the Jazz are overweight at the 5 as is with Enes Kanter and Al Jefferson fighting for big-time minutes. At Gasol’s price of $38 million over the next two seasons, the Jazz would likely scoff at any phone call from Mitch Kupchak about a trade scenario.
But what if Kupchak brings a third team into the mix? The Jazz are ripe for a blockbuster deal because they are absolutely stacked with talent in their frontcourt. They boast a near-All-Star player in Millsap, one of the best post scorers in Jefferson, one of the best young defenders in Favors and an utterly tantalizing prospect in Kanter. Ever since the Jazz picked Kanter in 2011, folks around the league have been wondering when they’ll pull the trigger to get some backcourt help.
One possible trade partner to watch? The Charlotte Bobcats. After a fun start to the season, the Bobcats have a painfully lopsided roster with an intriguing, if overachieving, backcourt, and an absolutely anemic frontcourt. In this sense, the Bobcats are the anti-Jazz. Sounds like a match made in Trade Machine heaven.
The deal
Here’s the framework of a deal (Note: Players are paired with the years left on their contracts and 2012-13 salary):
Lakers receive: Millsap (1, $8M) Mo Williams (1, $8.5M), DeSagana Diop (1, $7.4M), Raja Bell (1, $3.5M)
Jazz receive: Gasol (2, $19M), Kemba Walker (3, $2.5M), Ben Gordon (2, $12.4M), Earl Clark (1, $1.2M)
Bobcats receive: Jefferson (1, $15M), Kanter (3, $4.5M), Chris Duhon (2, $3.5M), Darius Johnson-Odom (1, $0.5M)
You can see why the Bobcats might be interested. Charlotte would land two paint scorers, one for now and one for later. Jefferson fits perfectly as a scorer next to defensive-inclined Bismack Biyombo, and the Bobcats would receive a fascinating big-man prospect in Kanter, a 20-year-old who’s averaging 15 points and nine rebounds every 36 minutes on 53 percent shooting. Even better, they finally get to unload Diop’s contract.
If the Bobcats end up having to dangle the sizzling but undersized Walker to find frontcourt help, they could do much worse than Ramon Sessions. Sessions may be struggling with his shot, but as a 26-year-old with an 18 player efficiency rating, he can be a healthy stopgap at the 1 while Kanter and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist develop. And hey, Duhon could at least put a few more Duke fans in the seats.
The Lakers would get what they need: a borderline All-Star power forward who can stretch the floor and a point guard (Mo Williams) to steer the offense until Steve Nash takes the wheel. The most appetizing part of this deal is the lack of long-term commitment. All four of the players in this deal have contracts that expire at the end of the season.
And the Jazz? They would finally land a young stud point guard to fill the void left long ago by Deron Williams. Not only that, they finally clear room for Favors to blossom into a franchise centerpiece. In the short term, it works as well. Though a Walker, Gordon, Marvin Williams, Favors and Gasol lineup isn’t a lock for the playoffs, neither is the status quo.
Whether this deal would work out for Utah all depends on Gasol’s health, though it’s worth remembering that cap space is somewhat overrated in a small market like Utah. If Millsap, Jefferson and Williams leave this summer and take their talents to bigger markets, no one’s itching to sign on the dotted line to play in Salt Lake. Instead, they could leverage their expiring deals to reel in All-Star talent for the foreseeable future. Gasol and Walker (potentially) give them that.
This is just one of a gazillion potential deals that could go down between now and the trade deadline. But if you’re unfamiliar with Millsap’s talents now, you won’t be if he’s soon starring in Los Angeles.
Millsap will in all likelihood get a good offer somewhere, but he’s no franchise player, and assuming he gets a good offer here and that extra year on the contract he was offered in the summer I can see him staying right here. Depending on the development of Favors and Kanter he may, or may not stay the full length of his contract. I believe he was offered a contract in the summer, whereas Jefferson was not because he is the most affordable of the two. Jefferson good player though he is, is just not affordable if the Jazz are looking to keep the young talent and compliment it with a star to move the team on to the next level. I’m not sure I see the Jazz getting that star level of player from a trade with involving Millsap without blowing up the roster, the numbers just don’t add up. The numbers do work better with Jefferson’s contract, but I’m just not sure he’s well rounded enough for anyone to bite. It might be a case of we exhaust all the trade possibilities all year long and then just let his contract expire if such a trade doesn’t improve us greatly. I like Gasol, but the Jazz can barely afford the $15 million it is paying Jefferson this year, Giving $19 million to Gasol would be contractual suicide. Gasol like Big Al is another player that needs a star player around him, he compliments the star, he isn’t the star, and we would be in an even worse situation in being able to get one.
This team as it stands is good enough for a low playoff seeding, why trade for something that blows up the roster? Why trade for something that hampers us financially in the future without the possibility of greatly improving? We have 8 players whose contracts are up at the end of the season, there is a great opportunity there for taking advantage of other teams contractual mishaps. That said if the right players in free agency don’t want to get on board I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jazz did what the Nuggets did last year, sign a few of the players on to long term contracts and then trade them for something different, but before then all other scenario’s will be explored.
Thanks @Dallan.
HELL NOOOOO!!!!
The reason we need to trade Millsap is to make room for Favors, in order to make room for Kanter at the C. I like the idea of trading Al, and to a lesser extent trading Millsap to get Gasol, but NO WAY am I trading Kanter.
I actually like Gasol’s contract: right now we pay Al 15M and Bell 3M, and what do we get….one player that doesn’t even suit up?! and one that does play D and is inefficient, so 19M for Gasol is not a lot, especially since it ends when its time to resign Kanter and (hopefully) Burks. I don’t think Millsap at 40 over 4 is a good idea, so hes probably gone.
So we we can somehow turn Al, Millsap, Bell, Watson into Gasol…thats a damn good thing, and brilliant in my opinion. We need other teams, but ya the premise I agree with, but not the conclusion.
Some of you must be smoking wackee tobackee. Your proposals make no sense in any way to the Utah Jazz’
Terrible trade. And of course the Lakers always have to get way more in return than they give.
Yes we are a Lakers taxes team…
Why help out the Fakers??
Gasol is starting to be often injured.
Not playing well at all lately.
NINTEEN MILLION contract this year and next. Makes AK and Als contract look like a walk in the park.
This trade would not help the logjam or give more minutes to Kanter or Favors.
JUST SAY NO..
JKG and Walker for big Al would be fair.
Trading half the team would never work.
Yeah giving up Kanter is stupid. Jazz fans would riot. Especially if we were trading Al and Millsap in the same deal, not to mention Mo too. We would probably do better picking up a third big in free agency.
I would definitely do Al + Bell + Watson or Tinsley for Gasol. The point to me is to upgrade at a position while trading away depth. Id rather trade for future picks if we can’t get that upgrade, and I would let people walk and see what I could get with the capspace before I traded to get worse, and that trade makes us worse as he described. Thanks for posting the full article btw
I’d take Mo over Kemba.
Giving up Kanter is stupid.
Taking a 19 mil Pau is stupid.
It’s an article for Lakers fans written by a guy who thinks every player is trying, in some way, to “audition” for the Lakers every night they go out on the court. To go to hollywood and be a movie star. It’s stupid but it’s what people will read, and apparently pay to read.
Giving up Kanter? Is this dude high?? In the next couple years, Kanter will be one of the best centers in the league… Only a moron would give that up.
We lose Kanter and pick up Ben !@#$% Gordon? LOL
this is actually the worst deal proposal I have ever read on this site.
Sounds like Love is in hot water with the Wolves for speaking his mind. I would agree with what he had to say.
So how about a three way. No AL has already been with the Wolves,sooo Al to Raptors, Calderon, Love to Jazz, Baragini, Bell to Wolves.
@LK: where can we sign ?????
Unfortunately, I think Love to the Lakers for Pau is more ready to happen
Id give up Paul and Al for Love
I don’t want any of those players. And Kanter is a guy that you might actually hold in Utah, with All-Star talent (well, who cares whether he might be an All-Star – he is just a great player to be). I want Kanter to be a Jazzman those next years.