Hoops

Australian draft pick

Oh yeah, and I don't think we've peaked as far as providing NBA players go. Aussies have strong ties with the Spurs, the Gaels and the Utes now, and a lot of Aussies are being recruited to colleges. So we have a much greater toe hold in the US than we did a decade ago. I think we'll continue to produce a few NBA quality guys here and there.

A really important factor with Mills and Jawai is their indigenous/ islander backgrounds. You'd have to think that if they can succeed, and earn a couple of million dollar contracts in the NBA, that a lot more indigenous kids will develop an interest in basketball. That has to be good for the game here, because there is clearly a higher ceiling on the general athletic ability of indigenous kids - just watch the AFL!

I've liked the idea of an AIS team in the NBL for awhile. Keep it to under 22's or something, then NBL teams can snap them up, or if they are good enough they can enter the NBA draft or go to Europe.

On Mills staying another year, I don't think the Olympics would fade that much. Scouts still use Youtube and will be sure to remind themselves of what he did there, as well as his more recent body of work.

The other thing is, both Rubio and Mills played well at the Olympics, yet there was a massive difference in their draft projections. I think this shows that scouts were much more interested in everything each player had done. Rubio had been on the radar much longer than Mills, and hence teams were more comfortable taking him with a high pick.

Its unfortunate for Mills that he got injured this year. All signs pointed to his Gaels knocking off Gonzaga and going to the NCAA tourney before he went down. If they'd done that, and beaten a team or two in the tournament, Mills would have been top 20 for sure.

Such is life though. He's in Portland now, and I agree with you Guam, he's go a shot behind Blake and Bayless. I actually think Bayless is an undersized SG anyway, and Mills may supplant him as the backup PG quite easily once they see he has great handles.

It will help a lot if Portland's attempts to land someone like Hinrich fail as well, because they are not committed to Blake, who could also be knocked off if Mills learns their offence fast enough! If I were Mills, apart from learning the offence, I would be taking three after three and shooting FTs! Roy really runs the offence anyway, so Mills just needs to bring the ball up safely, hand it over if the fast break isn't on, and make his threes when he is open!