It appears that Brooklyn Nets big man Paul Millsap is soon going to have a new home. It was recently reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that the former Jazz, Hawks, and Nuggets forward, who has appeared in 24 games for the Nets this season, is seeking a change of scenery.

Financially, the Brooklyn Nets are a top-heavy team. Their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden are all on max contracts, and then that leaves little room for the rest of the roster to get paid. Joe Harris is the only other player on the team who makes over $6M annually. So one thing the team looked to do last off-season was get as many affordably priced players as possible. And for one reason or another, that means rostering some very young players on rookie deals, and some much older players on veteran minimum salaries. And that makes for some inconsistent performances.

Last off-season, several of the best values the Nets found was at the big position. Retaining Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge was a savvy move by GM Sean Marks. Both came via the buyout market midway through the season last year. Nic Claxton, on the other end of the experience spectrum, was a holdover as well. Rookie Day'Ron Sharpe is a newcomer as was the veteran Paul Millsap.

We've seen Steve Nash turn to a cavalcade of bigs this year with few carving out a night in night out role. After Aldridge, who recently flourished with 27 points in a big win over the Wizards, there are not many Nets bigs who have been both available and reliable.

Nic Claxton missed 17 consecutive games with a non-COVID illness. He was playing some of the best ball of his career before a recent injury setback. But unfortunately, Claxton has made news more via trade rumor than anything else.

Rookie Day'Ron Sharpe has recently made a name for himself.

Blake Griffin started the year in lineups but was eventually riding pine, as coach Steve Nash couldn't find time to get him minutes. Blake has earned spot duty with the rash of COVID and injury issues, but he still hasn't proven completely dependable.

Then there is Paul Millsap, who has missed several games this year for “personal reasons,” and has not had the chance to find a rhythm.

Nash spoke about the topic before the team's game vs. the San Antonio Spurs.

“When you add it all up there's five centers,” said Nash. “I think it makes it difficult. For different reasons at different parts of the season we've pressed different buttons and although he did get some opportunities he didn't get a ton of opportunities, you know I feel that was unfortunate for Paul and I understand.”

Millsap is averaging 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 11.3 minutes per game. He's not defending better than Claxton and he's not shooting better than Aldridge. James Johnson has also taken some minutes at the four that might have gone to the guy James Harden sometimes affectionately refers to as “Sap.” And all of that competition for minutes has squeezed him out.

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“Just a difficult situation that we didn't necessarily foresee but here we are,” continued Nash. “And Day'Ron [Sharpe] and Nic [Claxton] have emerged, and LA's had a great year and Blake's been available the whole season and we know whether he's playing very well or he's struggling we know what he brings with his I.Q. and his defensively he takes charges and boxes out and gives us a physicality that we don't have, so you know you add it all up and it's just there's not enough space for everybody,” explained the second-year head coach.

That last bit is intriguing. Nash says that Griffin, whether he's been playing well or not has “been available the whole season.” And that might be a hint that the personal time Millsap has needed cost him some run. This was something Nash contended was not the case earlier in the season. But maybe that changed and the time away from the team did cost Millsap in his coch's eyes.

At the end of the day this is about playing time and clearly, Millsap thinks he can still contribute at a relatively high level. We would expect him to land on a contending team who has more opportunity in their front court.

“It was very recent, it was just an unfortunate situation. We think Paul’s been great, His spirit and the way he’s been a great teammate, and accepted a limited role so far has been difficult for him,” said Nash.

Based on everything coach Nash said, it sounds as if Millsap came in with different expectations for his role than the team had. Perhaps another team will provide a better fit moving forwards.