Soon to be free agent, Paul Millsap confident about next season – NBA News
As the regular season approaches and training camps get ready to commence, Paul Millsap knows that he has the most important year of his life awaiting him.
Millsap, the power forward of the Utah Jazz, is entering the final year of his contract, and will become a free agent next summer. If free agency was not enough to get Millsap under pressure, he will commence a battle with fellow
Jazz teammate Derrick Favors during training camp for the right to be named the starting power forward of Jazz for the coming season.
Millsap however is concentrating only on his work and is focused on playing the next season to the best of his abilities. After taking a vacation after the playoffs, Millsap returned to work during the offseason and paired up with
personal trainer Johnnie Bryant, who was recently added to the Jazz training staff, as he worked on all aspects of his game.
Millsap had a good season last year, averaging 16.6 points, a career high 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. He knows that this season, he has to improve even more if he wants to be taken seriously in the league, and land a
big pay day in free agency.
“I know what I can do. I know my capabilities. Everybody else [does] too," said Millsap, during a fundraising event on Monday.
Millsap was drafted by the Jazz with their 47th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, and has played for them only ever since. He knows that this might be his final year with the team, and will have to fight hard and prove
his talent if he wants to stay put, as new talent in Favors is pushing him out of the starting roster.
However, he is not concerned about his future with the team, or his approaching free agency at the moment, instead focusing on his game and the season that is nearing.
“It’ll sink in when it happens. But right now, I’m still with the Utah Jazz. I’m still going to go out there and play basketball for them and give it everything I got,” said Millsap.
Personal aspirations and goals aside, Millsap wants Utah to achieve a better result this coming season as compared to the previous one, where they played well to qualify for the playoffs but lost in the first round. With some good
veteran players in Mo Williams and Randy Foye joining the roster this coming season, Utah are in a good position to rise in the Western Conference.
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