Patty Mills makes a $5 million transfer to a new NBA team, delighting his Australian fans
Aussie veteran Patty Mills will return to the NBA for a 16th season after reportedly signing with the Utah Jazz.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports Mills, 36, and the Jazz have agreed to a one-year, fully guaranteed $3.3 million deal (AUD $5M) for the 2024/25 season.
It’ll see Mills reunite with coach Will Hardy, who shared six seasons together when Hardy was an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich from 2015 to 2021.
Mills spent 10 seasons at the Spurs all up, playing in two NBA Finals and winning the 2014 championship in his most recognised run in the NBA.
His role in the NBA has diminished in recent years including playing a combined 32 games for the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat last season — averaging 4.2 points and shooting under 40 per cent from three-point range for the first time in his career.
But he remains a highly respected locker room veteran who can plug in and play minutes as a dangerous perimeter shooter with a scoring spark, while his leadership will be valuable to a youthful Jazz side.
Mills, who was traded three times last off-season, joins his fifth NBA team after stops at the Portland Trail Blazers, Spurs, Brooklyn Nets, Hawks and Heat.
He’s appeared in a total 892 regular season NBA games.
The beloved Aussie is coming off a productive Olympics campaign for the Boomers, which is expected to be his appearance for the green and gold.
Having consistently ascended his game on the national stage, Mills was ranked second for the Boomers in scoring in Paris, averaging 16.5 points per game with 2.3 triples at 40.9 per cent shooting from the arc.
It includes Mills putting up a game-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting in Australia’s 95-90 overtime loss to eventual bronze medallist Serbia in the quarterfinals.