Hawks' Paul Millsap: Expected to opt out of contract

Millsap is expected to opt out of his $21.5 million player option for the 2017-18 season and become an unrestricted free agent, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "Eventually I probably will opt out, yes", Millsap said. "But I want to be here. I think talks have been pretty good, so we'll see what happens."

Millsap is coming off one of his best years offensively as a professional, posting a career-high scoring average of 18.1 points per game, while also adding 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 three-pointers across 34.0 minutes. While it sounds as if he's expected to opt out of his contract, the Hawks still appear to be the favorite to retain his services, as they'll be able to offer him the most money with a max deal worth $205 million over fiver years, while any other team will only be able to offer him a four-year deal worth $158.4 million. He won't officially be able to opt out until later this summer, but if he ultimately does return to the Hawks, Millsap should remain one of the team's go-to options.