Lou Williams or Paul Millsap: Who should be our 12th man?

[NBASupes]

Due to the Delon Wright trade hold up, we are waiting for that trade to be finished so we can sign our 15th and last player. The options are between former Hawks, Lou Williams or Paul Millsap. Based on last year's metrics, the answer is obvious for me, it's Millsap especially since we have three PGs on the roster and our PFs are JC and Gallo. Gallo tends to miss a month or two literally every year and our centers are Capela/Dieng/Okongwu. Okongwu is out till JAN and could take even longer before he plays and Dieng is average. The ability to have Millsap in the locker room with his work ethic, leadership for Jalen Johnson and Admiral Schofield is invaluable. While Lou hold the same leadership value and locker room value, he really doesn't offer us much on the court once Wright arrives. Who are you taking? 

[niremetal]

54 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Due to the Delon Wright trade hold up, we are waiting for that trade to be finished so we can sign our 15th and last player. The options are between former Hawks, Lou Williams or Paul Millsap. Based on last year's metrics, the answer is obvious for me, it's Millsap especially since we have three PGs on the roster and our PFs are JC and Gallo. Gallo tends to miss a month or two literally every year and our centers are Capela/Dieng/Okongwu. Okongwu is out till JAN and could take even longer before he plays and Dieng is average. The ability to have Millsap in the locker room with his work ethic, leadership for Jalen Johnson and Admiral Schofield is invaluable. While Lou hold the same leadership value and locker room value, he really doesn't offer us much on the court once Wright arrives. Who are you taking? 

It's a tough call, but I went with Millsap, mainly because (assuming the Delon Wright deal goes through) I see a more plausible path to Millsap playing meaningful minutes and doing something with them.

But really, at this point, neither of those guys should be playing meaningful minutes. Millsap's defense has been pretty bad for the past couple years, and his 3P% last season was worryingly low. As with Lou, I question how much he actually has left in the tank. And unlike Lou, I don't see him as being the type of player anymore who will ever have a night good enough to tilt games in our favor.

I feel like with either guy, what we're really paying for is a veteran presence and mentor. Lou clearly embraced that role last season with Trae and OO (and others), and his calls to our draft picks on draft night (which both mentioned in their press conference) suggests that he's up for continuing it. I think it benefitted Trae and OO a lot last year, which in turn benefited the team. I have no doubt that Millsap will have the same positive impact on many of the guys in the locker room. But going forward, I still think having a veteran presence that Trae (specifically) respects is important.

So I'll Trust In Travis Schlenk (and Coach Nate). If they think Millsap will have positively impact Trae and the team in the way Lou did--and that he'll be okay with a good number of DNP-CDs, which he didn't have to contend with in Denver--I'd definitely bring him in over Lou. If they think Lou has a unique rapport with Trae that we'll lose with Millsap, it becomes a tough call.

Edited August 5, 2021 by niremetal

[nathan2331]

I'd much rather sign Millsap. I don't want to disrespect Lou's contributions to the Hawks, but he's not the same caliber of scorer he once was. In the worst case of emergency, I'd rather have Millsap on the court. Millsap also makes it easier for us to trade Gallo and distribute his minutes without needing a replacement .

[Spud2nique]

That’s a tough enough one to sleep on. I’ll holla in the morning. Ohhh I love them both. 

[gurpilo]

I went with Lou Williams, I think his scoring and pick and roll game is extremely valuable for us. I don’t see Milsap contributing

[Spud2nique]

I’m either gonna love Paul if he’s with us or will be upset with him.

 

"League sources [said] Millsap would be amenable to joining Golden State or returning to [the] Atlanta [Hawks] at the taxpayer mid-level," Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported Monday.

[NBASupes]

Considering we have potentially two available slots, likely both. 

[JTB]

45 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Considering we have potentially two available slots, likely both. 

So you believe we could land Lou and Sap?

[NBASupes]

29 minutes ago, JTB said:

So you believe we could land Lou and Sap?

When I last asked before FA, he  said he's a lock to return. I know things change but it just seems like he was a part. With Sap, if he was going to take the min to sign with Golden State already. 

[sturt]

[terrell]

5 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Due to the Delon Wright trade hold up, we are waiting for that trade to be finished so we can sign our 15th and last player. The options are between former Hawks, Lou Williams or Paul Millsap. Based on last year's metrics, the answer is obvious for me, it's Millsap especially since we have three PGs on the roster and our PFs are JC and Gallo. Gallo tends to miss a month or two literally every year and our centers are Capela/Dieng/Okongwu. Okongwu is out till JAN and could take even longer before he plays and Dieng is average. The ability to have Millsap in the locker room with his work ethic, leadership for Jalen Johnson and Admiral Schofield is invaluable. While Lou hold the same leadership value and locker room value, he really doesn't offer us much on the court once Wright arrives. Who are you taking? 

Any more choices? lol

[swanlee]

Lou, we are loaded at forward what we need right now is a vet that can run the game as PG if Trae misses some games or needs rest. Our current options at PG are young and Lou has shown when given that chance he can do well.

[sturt]

1 hour ago, terrell said:

Any more choices? lol

 

[NBASupes]

48 minutes ago, swanlee said:

Lou, we are loaded at forward what we need right now is a vet that can run the game as PG if Trae misses some games or needs rest. Our current options at PG are young and Lou has shown when given that chance he can do well.

Delon Wright?

[swanlee]

7 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Delon Wright?

The deal is not done and we don't know how he will run our offense in our system, we know how Lou will when he is playing PG and Trae is out and we have much more of a log jam at forward. 

[JayBirdHawk]

[Atlantaholic]

The only way we get both is if Lou is happy with the minimum, right? Not sure that's likely. 

If we can only get one I'll go with Millsap as well. Gallo is good for at least 20 missed games a season. 

[KB21]

5 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Considering we have potentially two available slots, likely both. 

Yeah, I think they end up signing both now that Cooper will be on a two way deal.  

Guaranteed Contracts:

• Trae Young, PG
• John Collins, PF/C
• Danillo Gallinari, PF
• Bojan Bogdanovich, SG
• Clint Capela, C
• Kevin Heurter, SG/SF
• DeAndre Hunter, SF
• Cam Reddish, SG/SF
• Gorgui Dieng, C
• Delon Wright, PG
• Jalen Johnson, PF/SF
• Solomon Hill, PF/SF
• Skylar Mays, SG
• Lou Williams, PG/SG
• Paul Millsap, PF/C

Injured List:

• Onyeka Okongwu, C

Two Way Contracts:

• Sharife Cooper, PG
• Admiral Schofield, SF/PF

[sturt]

1 minute ago, KB21 said:

Injured List:

• Onyeka Okongwu, C

Um. No such thing in the NBA. (But I think you knew that.)

[Sothron]

I think we only have room for one more contract. I'd like to have both but if I have to pick then bring back Millsap. Gallo always misses time during the season. I'd rather have Millsap out there at backup PF than the hobo from the 70's getting minutes.