Paul Millsap reportedly chooses Hawks over Magic in NBA free agency

Despite meeting with the Orlando Magic in free agency, Paul Millsap has elected to return to the Atlanta Hawks, reports Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Earlier Wednesday, the first day teams could officially negotiate with free agents, multiple media members reported Millsap was weighing offers from Atlanta and Orlando. Because the Hawks do not own his Bird rights, they could not offer the 30-year-old power forward more money than Orlando could. Both teams have maximum salary slots available.

By targeting Millsap, the Magic set their sights high as free-agency began: though not among the very top tier of available free agents, Millsap is a hardworking, talented, and productive player in his prime years. He's coming off his second straight All-Star season.

If the Magic hope to address their need for depth at power forward, they'll need to do so soon: some of the league's other strong free-agent bigs, including Amir Johnson and Brandan Wright, have already agreed to terms with new clubs.