Veteran NBA forward Paul Millsap is retiring from basketball after spending 16 seasons in the league, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 47th overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Louisiana Tech, Millsap spent his first seven seasons with the Jazz before signing as a free agent in 2013 with Atlanta. The 6’7″ big man made four straight All-Star teams with the Hawks before leaving for Denver as a free agent in 2017. He played for the Nuggets for four seasons, then spent his final season in 2021/22 with the Nets and Sixers.
Millsap hasn’t played basketball professionally since 2022, but didn’t formally decide to retire until now, at age 39.
Despite being a late second-round pick, Millsap made the All-Rookie Second team in his first NBA season and immediately established himself as an important rotation player for the Jazz, earning Sixth Man of the Year votes in 2009 and 2010, then taking as Utah’s starting power forward when Carlos Boozer left the team in 2010.
While Millsap had several strong seasons with the Jazz, his best years came with the Hawks under head coach Mike Budenholzer, who led the team to four straight playoff seasons during Millsap’s time in Atlanta, including a 60-win season and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2014/15.
After averaging a career-high 18.1 points per game in his final year with the Hawks, Millsap served as more of a role player than a featured option in Denver, especially after undergoing wrist surgery during his first season with the Nuggets. He started 186 of 215 games he played for the team, but saw his usage rate steadily decline during those four years.
For his career, Millsap averaged 13.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 block in 28.1 minutes per game across 1,085 regular season appearances. According to Charania, he’s one of just eight players in NBA history who accumulated at least 1,000 career steals, 1,000 blocks, and 500 three-pointers.
According to Basketball-Reference, Millsap earned over $195MM in NBA salaries during his 16 years in the league.
Cheers on a very nice career. Not a true star, but a good and valuable player you could always trust to show up. 4 straight All Star appearances for a guy who averaged 17.5 ppg over that span without even a single season of double-digit rebounds is crazy, though.
He didn’t retire yet??
The new NBA doesn’t want veterans around anymore. Go sit somewhere else
Good player who would have been way more valued if his career happened 10-15 years earlier, before the Rockets and Warriors redefined the NBA overnight.
Congrats on a great career, Millsap! Those years with the Jazz were fun to watch!
I always thought it was so dumb for the that particular front office to just let him sign elsewhere. Sure they had Derek Favors, but Millsap was a more versatile and high IQ player. Guess not everyone sees the vision. That and they were doing their youth movement.
Although, it did lead to a several pretty good teams with Hayward then Spida. Hard to predict that. However, would’ve been better teams with him.
Happy retirement and enjoy your next phase in life!
Favors had a higher ceiling but injuries prevented him from getting there. They should’ve at least traded Millsap though.