Paul Millsap is retiring from the NBA after 16 seasons in the league, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Millsap put together a lengthy professional career in the NBA after being drafted 47th overall in the second round of the 2006 Draft by the Utah Jazz.
Millsap spent his first two years with the Jazz coming off the bench, but appeared in all 82 games for Utah and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting. He became a full-time starter for the Jazz in his fifth year, and over his last three years in Utah he averaged 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and shot 50.7% from the field. During his time with the Jazz, Millsap garnered Sixth Man of the Year attention, finishing as high as seventh, and played varied key roles for the Jazz in five playoff appearances.
After seven years in Utah, Millsap signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks in the summer of 2013. Millsap’s time with the Hawks is where he really broke out, earning four All-Star nods, and finishing fifth in Defensive Player of the Year during the 2015-16 season. Millsap led the Hawks to 60 wins during the 2014-15 season, as he averaged a team high 16.7 points and 7.8 rebounds. That Hawks team made it to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Following his four-year tenure with the Hawks, Millsap signed with the Nuggets in the summer of 2017, and was still a productive player. He shared the frontcourt with Nikola Jokic in the starting lineup, and during the 2019 playoffs was Denver’s third-leading scorer behind Jokic and Jamal Murray. However, Millsap’s production began to decline from there and after four years with the Nuggets he spent his final season in the league with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.
Millsap was a consistent and versatile big man throughout most of his career, anchoring defensive units on one end and getting points in the mid-range and under the basket. In the later stages of his career, Millsap adopted a 3-point shot, and while he seldom used it, he had some success with it during his time with the Hawks and Nuggets.
Prior to being drafted, Millsap had three standout years at Louisiana Tech, where he averaged 18.6 points and 12.7 rebounds. Millsap is one of just eight players to total 500 3-pointers, 1,000 blocks and 1,000 steals over their career.
