I'm super excited about Mills. I hope he is in summer league, and he and JBay can play in the backcourt with Bayless at the 1 and Mills at the 2. We can have an awesome summer league team. Bayless, Mills, Claver, Batum(?), Freeland(?), Koponen(?), Pendergraph, Cunningham and then whoever else we get from oversees/NBDL.
I'll believe that when I see it ... that's not to say I don't think Mills has some potential, but Blake is at least a savvy vet, and Bayless is probably twice the physical specimen Mills is. Summer league is going to be interesting (I think?)
All of those guys I bolded are confirmed out. European championships are this summer and all of those guys either have national team commitments or aren't fully healed in the case of Claver.
Let's hope that he has more impact than Taurean Green. I really thought that guy was going to be a decent player in the league.
55th pick in the draft. I will be ecstatic if he makes the team. He is a tiny PG who will have a really hard time defending taller PG's in the league......which is most of them.
If he can run the offense and score as a backup without defending anyone - it will be an upgrade on our outgoing backup PG... Honestly - he seems like a very nice 3rd PG to have on the roster for special occasions and when there are injuries. Nothing more, nothing less. Would love to see it happen as a super-fast cheap version of Aaron Brooks with less shooting/scoring. Heck - he would be worth it if all he could do is stay in front of the Aaron Brooks of the league...
Nice to see Mills' agent writing for the SF Gate. "He's a better point guard than Steve Blake or Jerryd Bayless, and will have proved that by the end of training camp." You can't be serious. He's not even really a PG. He's a subminiature shooting guard. He averaged only 3.9 APG, and 2.9 TO/G playing in a very weak conference. Doesn't sound like a great PG to me. He had a FGA/AST ratio of 4:1. A FGA/AST ratio of 2:1 is a shoot first PG territory. A 4:1 ratio is a shooting guard. By comparison, Jerryd Bayless put up better numbers as a college freshman, in a much tougher conference, than Mills did as a sophomore playing against weak competition. People say Bayless isn't a "true PG" because he has a scorer's mentality. Yet, his FGA/AST ratio in college was 3.15:1 - 0 and he actually played SG for all but six games. So, he took fewer shots per game (12.6 vs. 15.6), but scored more PPG (19.7 vs. 18.4) than Mills, and averaged more APG (4.0 vs. 3.9) as a shooting guard than Mills did as a point guard - and he did it all against tougher competition. Bayless is also 2.5" taller and nearly 30 lbs. heavier than Mills. Yet Bruce Jenkins, whoever he is, thinks Mills will somehow be a better PG by the end of training camp, than Jerryd Bayless (and Steve Blake). Right. Somebody please send this to Jerryd Bayless. I want a copy of it posted on his bathroom mirror so he sees it every morning. We all know Bayless is intense. Imagine what a little added motivation would do for him. He's already been told he's going to be running the point in summer league to help groom him to be our PG of the future, and now some asshat writer says Mills is going to beat him and Blake out for the starting role by the end of training camp. BNM
I beg to differ. Bayless has so much more potential. I have, though, been a fan of Mills since the olympics. I think he can develop into a very good long-term backup PG.
Yes. It doesn't mean it was a bad pick--at #55, what can you really expect?--but those quotes about him seem ridiculous to me. Ed O.
Mills has a surprisingly large fanbase, probably because he's from Australia. I don't see him doing any more than Taurean Green though.
Yeah, he was probably a good value at 55, but it's pretty hard to get a bad value at 55 as the expectations are so low. The quotes are totally over the top. If you look at Mills' stats in the WCC they are very similar to Pooh Jeter's stats. He's also very similar to in size and plays a similar style. Jeter has made a decent career for himself playing in Europe, but I doubt he'll ever be on an NBA roster. Mills could probably have a decent career playing in Europe, and if he does make an NBA roster, it will probably be a as a 3rd sting PG 12th - 15th man role. No way is he going to beat out Blake and Bayless to be our stating PG on opening day. If he is, we're in HUGE trouble. BNM
I hope the guy makes it as our third-string PG. I think he'd be an instant fan favorite with a name like Patty Mills.
Mills put up better stats as the number 1 scoring option on a team in a weak conference. Green was the PG on a two-time national championship squad loaded with future NBA players. They are both about equal in my eyes = borderline NBA 3rd stringers. BNM
I think he will. There's this talk about leaving him in Europe or w/e but I think I'd either make him the 3rd string PG or NBDL him. He already plays the NBA type game and sending him overseas just seems unnecessary. I'd go with 3rd string PG myself. He wouldn't get many minutes at all bit if he did, I think he could contribute just based on his speed and athleticism alone.
Dude, I'm convinced you haven't seen Mills play at all. Mills is much, much quicker, a better ball handler, and simply a better player. He can get his own shot whenver he wants. Taurean Green was a jump shooter with average athleticism. Come on. Stop basing everything on only stats. Watch a game.
