The National Basketball Association trade deadline is less than two months away and teams are making moves to either prepare for the future or to solidify their playoff bids. DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay have been involved in hundreds of trade rumor talks and it did not take much time for another set of stars in Paul Millsap and Rajon Rondo to be included in the trade rumor mill.
The Atlanta Hawks have expressed to stay with Millsap in the long run but according to ESPN, the organization has started to listen to trade pitches for the versatile forward. Atlanta reportedly is afraid of "losing Millsap in free agency without compensation in the summer" and is also thinking of moving pending free agents Thabo Sefalosha and Kyle Korver.
Millsap, according to the sports website's Chris Haynes, has already decided to opt out of his final year of his Atlanta contract. But the Hawks are looking for a big return of investment that trading Millsap might be not as easy despite teams showing much interest in him. If he ever gets shipped to another team, only Korver will be left in the Hawks' original starting lineup with Al Horford now in Boston and Jeff Teague and Demarre Carroll now in Indiana and Toronto, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rondo has expressed his yearning to be traded after being benched by Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. Rondo's asking for a trade following a benching might now be news for NBA fans as he did the same thing when he was in the Dallas Mavericks, leaving the team in bad terms.
Hoiberg continued benching Rondo, who was turned into a mere spectator since Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks, in their 118-111 win against the Hornets on Monday with Michael Carter Williams serving as starting guard and Jerian Grant doing backup duties. The former All-Star guard, however, does not take the benching lightly and has expressed his desire of being traded to the media if the benching continues, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Watch the video below for Millsap's latest game highlights: