Atlanta Hawks: The Subtlety of Paul Millsap’s Stardom

You would think that Ersan’s spacing as a 3-point shooter (a trait he shares with Paul Millsap) would be enough to keep the defense honest and keep them from leaning too heavily to help. But, that’s what makes Paul so effective. When that is Paul in Ersan’s position, the entire defense has to be ready to rotate to defend not just Millsap’s jumper, but also his half-speed drives off of a pump-fake, where he almost always draws a foul or gets a bucket.

The entire defense shifts to cut off Paul’s drive. Effective offense is all about spacing. Most NBA teams are looking for shooting at every position to create spacing. Paul is a rare offensive talent. He creates spacing, not just by stretching the defense with his shooting, but by being such a threat to attack the rim that defenses always have to be ready to shift to defend him.

What separates Paul from other perimeter-oriented power forwards, and makes him an especially effective offensive player, is not just his shooting and passing. It’s his ability to attract so much attention that it creates driving and cutting lanes for the other Hawks when the ball swings around the perimeter. It is not unlike how central LeBron is to what the Cavs do on offense.

One thing is clear, the Hawks are faced with an extremely tough off-season decision. A 5-year max contract for Paul could be the biggest contract in NBA history. The 5th year of that deal would cost the Hawks almost $50 million for what would then be a 37-year-old. There is a lot of risk for that contract to turn into a bad one, and fast.

But, if they decide to let Millsap walk, or don’t offer him the max and he leaves (a la Al Horford), then the Atlanta Hawks better be prepared to go in a very different offensive direction.