Hoops

Mills to be waived by Blazers?

LA Boy, you keep missing the point about Mills. Its not that he is or ever will be the player Chris Paul is. The point is he has one phenomenal attribute which is his speed with the ball, which very few players can match. I will lay money on Patty Mills beating Barbosa down court with or without the ball.

Put Kobe on Mills are you serious? We aren't talking in the half court here. I am talking about open court, flat out beat your man down the floor. If Chris Paul and Deron Williams couldn't keep up with him, do you think Kobe could?

Do you not agree that a lot of players make the NBA based on the fact that they are exceptional at one or two things? Eg, Scalabrine - someone gave him a shot because he showed he could play solid positional D and can hit the three; Reggie Evans - relentless rebounding; Eddie House - phenomenal shooting.

I am NOT saying Mills is unstoppable. What I am saying is that his speed is his key NBA asset. That skill makes him a dangerous threat to score quick points unless the opposing team makes sure they have someone in a position to beat him down the floor. That is a good weapon for a coach to throw at a team whose guards are a little slow or too eager to crash the offensive boards and shoot it in the paint.

I'm pretty sure someone will see what Mills can offer a team once he gets healthy and then we will see him in the NBA - I expect next season, because he is still rehabbing his foot right now.

LA Boy, I understand what you are saying in terms of a half-court game. If the US team had focussed on Mills in that situation, he would have struggled.

But I think you have to concede that the US team simply had no answers to Mills in the open court. I remember watching both games and after it happened a couple of times, you could see Chris Paul and Deron Williams both took it personally and really tried to stop Mills from beating them down court. But guess what, they flat out couldn't! Seriously watch the game again and you will see what I mean.

Mills has been signed!

Trail Blazers Sign Patrick Mills


PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Trail Blazers signed guard Patrick Mills to a contract, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Portland selected Mills (6-0, 185) with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after playing two seasons at St. Mary’s (CA) College.

Mills, who fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during an NBA Summer League practice session on July 9, underwent successful surgery on July 13 and is continuing his rehabilitation on schedule.

The Australian national was an early entry candidate for the NBA Draft out of St. Mary’s, where he posted averages of 16.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.97 steals in two seasons. Mills, 21, was a First Team All-WCC selection as a freshman and sophomore.

NBA Link: http://linky.com.au/wa7yo

LA Boy, show me where I said Mills was better than Paul? I said he is a lot faster than Paul - and I don't care what sprint time Mills got, he showed that none of the US point guards at Beijing could stay in front of him. Are you going to try and tell me Chris Paul wasn't trying to stay with Mills in the quarter finals of the Olympics?

I do agree with you that he has a lot of work to do if he wants to become a starting PG. His understanding of how to run a half court offence just isn't there yet. But his ball handling, speed and shooting is all good enough to earn him a roster spot once he gets healthy. He's certainly good enough to do what guys like Boykins have done.

Clarky, did you read the info I posted and are you certain of that? Because from the info I have found, I don't think Mills was offered that required tender.

This confirms that he is about to become a free agent:

http://linky.com.au/1brsy

The other guys you have mentioned - Claver, et al have gone to play overseas for professional teams and hence Portland was able to make the required tender to retain their rights because they are not taking up a roster spot.

Since Mills made it clear he wanted to stay in the US and try to make the NBA, the Blazers knew they couldn't retain his rights unless they wanted to keep him on their roster. When he got injured, there was basically no chance of that, so it was not surprising that they never made the tender.

Anon, I don't have to be a scout to know a top notch player when I see one. Did you see his speed with the basketball in the Olympics? Very few players can get up and down the court that fast, let alone while keeping the ball under control. Mills may even be quicker than Rondo and he's a lot faster than Chris Paul.

Did you also see Mills outplay Stephen Curry in a college game last year soon after he came back from injury? Curry went 7th in the draft. The difference between them is that Curry got himself a bigger profile by going deep in the NCAA tourney the year before and he is recognised as an excellent shooter. Mills isn't as good a shooter as Curry, but he is well and truly good enough to make the open shot on a regular basis - better than guys like Rondo for example.

So, if you have a player who can get wherever he wants to go on a basketball court, is a constant threat to score on the fast break and can hit the open shot, then at the least he has the ability to be a sparkplug off the bench like I said earlier.

Now, if Mills takes that next step and is able to learn how to run an NBA offence? Well, the sky is the limit for him then.

Basically, if you have watched him play and seen a lot of NBA basketball, I don't see how you could fail to be optimistic about his future in the NBA.

Anon, Mills maybe temporarily 'unvaluable' but that is primarily because of his injury. Once he gets healthy he absolutely has the ability, as a minimum, to be a scoring sparkplug off the bench for a team. If he gets the right situation and coaching as a PG, the potential is there to be a starter. So I don't know why anyone would want to look at Mills situation so negatively.

At least if they hang him out to dry, it won't take long. Dude's so skinny he'd dry with a passing breeze!

I hope so Beantown.

Would love to see Mills get an opportunity. Would hate to see him hung out to dry.

Clarky, pretty sure the Blazers had to offer Mills something known as a 'required tender' by September 6 if they wanted to retain any rights to him (ie, if they wanted to stash him overseas for a year or two). There was a whole thread about this a few weeks back here:

http://www.hoops.com.au/forum/21127-mills-heads-back-to-the-us/

(Sorry, linky pumped out some garbage when I used it)

There's a link in there that points to an FAQ by Larry Coon on the CBA where I got the info from:

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q42

If anyone is interested, look up point 98 "What are the important CBA-related dates each season?" it gives some dates there and one of them is the Sept 6 date that says:

"Second round draft picks become free agents if not given a required tender"

Pretty sure that was never offered by the Blazers, so I think he has no obligations to them whatsoever.

Totally.

LOL Isaac, unfortunately for me, I am only about 4th on the waiver wire. For better or worse, I think I'm stuck with my FNBL team unless there is a flurry of import axings!

Mills is theunluckiest guy going around...a waiver may in fact be the best thing for him long term.

I think Mills only got out of the protective boot for his foot in the last week. So he really has had no chance to compete for a roster spot.

Hopefully he can get fit in time to land a spot on a D League team, since he seems committed to staying in the US for now. If he can't find a good situation where he is playing a lot of minutes and getting paid okay though, I actually think he could do worse than come back and play in the NBL this season.

This guy has been unlucky, but probably needed to finish collage and come out then, hind sight is always great, but there was never a guarentee he would go first round, only the shit teams spin to them...