Hoops

Could Patty Mills be play the sixers next season

Anon, Considering Bogut has stated in several interviews that "He always followed the Kings; they're his favourite NBL side" and "He wanted the Kings back in the league" and "growing up, he always wanted to play for the Kings prior to College", I would have assumed that Yes, he would play for the Kings:

a) If they're still around
b) He wants to play ball back in Aus at some stage.

We'll just add your blind optimism to the rest of our comments. Welcome to the family of Jokers.

Spinner, despite the sarcasm in your comment, if you remove Bogut (since he loves the Kings, he'd play for them) and Anderson (Hawks man), the rest of your list is certainly possible.

edit: that should read "Sebastian Telfair started at least 30 games in EACH OF his first five seasons in the NBA!"

Anon #305591, I didn't say Patty will be a career starting PG that will dominate or anything. I said you can't rule out the possibility that he will be a starting PG in the NBA at some time or another. Sebastian Telfair started at least 30 games in his first five seasons in the NBA! Sebastian Telfair! I've seen Patty make more nice assists for Portland in the last 20 games than I saw Bassy make in an entire season playing for the Celtics!

I agree that Curry is clearly the superior player right now. I was just trying to point out that in college, Patty was not that far behind him at one stage. Look at the mock drafts on Draft Express and for the latter part of 2008, both were pegged to be taken in the 10-20 range.

Anyway, in the off-season, I was more negative about Patty's chances because he appeared to be on the outer behind Miller, Bayless and Johnson. But instead, Bayless was sent packing and Patty has beaten out the highly regarded Johnson to be Miller's backup. Not only that, he has played well and Nate has showed enough trust in him to play him in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Those achievements made me sit up and take notice. It shows Patty has the right mindset to succeed in the NBA. He certainly has the speed and the shooting. It will just come down to how well he can defend his position and how much he improves his playmaking.

Gotta love people who make categorical statements with no supporting evidence like they are some undisputable authority. There is no way anyone other than Patty can be certain he won't play NBL next year. And sure, Patty might never be a starting NBA PG, but the way he has improved this season, you can't rule it out! The potential for both to happen is there.

Let's not forget that Mills was able to do a lot of similar things in college to what Stephen Curry did. Curry just didn't have the same injury disruptions and has had a massive advantage in his introduction to the NBA because of his dad's knowledge and connections. It shows the potential is there if he keeps developing his game and has a little luck.

Patty is good enough to play in the NBA, and in all honesty, another two years in the league and Miller will be on the out with Portland. He could have a good chance at starting for them at the point if he applies himself.

Technically if he plays NBL, it has to be here. The moment he bought a Crows jersey, he signed a pact with South Australia.

Still a very long shot at this stage, but it would be exciting if the league were able to get their hands on a few NBA players, including Patty, for one season!

I suspect costs would be too prohibitive in the end though. Not only the salary they would want, but if they are still contracted to an NBA team, that team would demand a massive insurance policy to let them play.

It's an interesting thought, not just for patty mills, but maybe we could get some guys out as imports who need the run. I'm not talking allstars but bench guys who need to keep their game in check with regular hit outs.

It would be good to see the NBL employ a 1 year salary exemption for a marquee type player while the lockout is on. Bringing in guys like Keyon Dooling, Kyle Lowry, luke Ridnour etc etc would be a good way to expose the league to the US market.