The Atlanta Hawks knew they were going to lose Paul Millsap to the Denver Nuggets in free agency, but at least now they'll get something for him.
According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Clippers, Nuggets and Hawks have agreed on a trade involving Danilo Gallinari, Millsap and Jamal Crawford as the main components. From Vivlamore:
The Hawks have agreed on a three-way trade with the Nuggets and the Clippers, with a pair of sign and trades, that will return Jamal Crawford, Diamond Stone, a protected first-round pick and cash, according to a person familiar with the situation. The deal was worked on into the early morning hours Tuesday and agreed upon later in the day. The deal can not be announced until after the NBA moratorium period ends Thursday.
The Clippers would receive Danilo Gallinari in a sign and trade from the Nuggets in the other major part of the proposed deal. The Nuggets recently agreed to a three-year, $90 million deal with Hawks unrestricted free agent Paul Millsap on Sunday and would acquire the four-time all-star power forward in sign-and-trade. The Nuggets would recieve a second-round pick from the Hawks, a 2019 pick acquired from the Wizards.
The big piece of the trade for the Hawks is the first-round draft pick, the top-three protected selection in 2018 that the Clippers received from the Rockets.
The Clippers will then, according to ESPN, sign Gallinari to a three-year contract worth $65 million.
Sources: The Clippers have reached agreement on a three-team deal to acquire free agent Danilo Gallinari on a three-year, $65M contract.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2017
A quick recap:
The Clippers will receive Gallinari on a new contract. The Nuggets will acquire Millsap and a 2019 second-round draft pick. And the Hawks will get Crawford, Diamond Stone and a 2018 protected first-round draft pick.
This is a big win for the Hawks, who were set to lose Millsap for nothing. Crawford has reportedly expressed an interest in being bought out rather than joining the rebuilding Hawks, but even if that's the case Atlanta still gets Stone, a young big man with some rotation potential, and the 2018 first-round pick.
As for Crawford, it remains to be seen if he'll be wearing an Atlanta uniform to start the season. The market for Crawford is already heating up with a possible buyout on the horizon, with both the Warriors and Lakers reported to have interest.
