Any thoughts on Patty Mills?

finestrg

Rotation player
Saw him last night & I thought he played great @ PHX --- 35 mins, 27 pts on 9-23 FGs (3-8 from 3), 5 assts, 1 steal and only 3 TOs. Scored the ball with ease and he ran a real nice show.

He got a lot of time last night because the Spurs have decided to rest Tony Parker until the playoffs begin. He outplayed 2-time MVP Steve Nash who was good himself but only played 17 mins in what may have been his last home game for PHX. Mills actually led his team to an impressive road victory, 110-106.

I've always liked this guy. Little fella can really shoot the ball from deep (flawless mechanics -- if he gets his feet set it's money, yet he shoots well off the dribble too), he's one of the quickest PGs in the league, gets up the floor and to the rim in a flash, he can finish and I think he's a better playmaker than he's given credit for. It's no fluke -- this dude played well for St. Mary's, always looked good in international competition playing for Australia (he looked phenomenal against top USA PGs in the Olympics a few years ago), got only spot time in Portland and made the most of it, dominated his couple of stints in the D-League and was equally dominant during his brief stay in China before resurfacing in the NBA 15 games ago with the Spurs...It'll be interesting to see what he gets on the open market this summer. He has a $1M player option with the Spurs for next yr that I think he'll decline. I think he's worth more than that. How much more I don't know but I think last night proved he's worth more than $1M. Talent-wise, I honestly don't see that much of a difference between Mills and Ty Lawson who's having a really nice year for Denver. I think Mills, if given the same opportunity, could easily match the numbers Lawson's putting up for the Nuggets this yr (in 35 mins Lawson's averaging 16.4 ppg on 48.5% FGs, 36.5% on 3s, 6.6 apg, 1.3 steals). Pound for pound, I see very little difference between these two players.

Not sure what's gonna happen with Lin --- I like Patty either as a backup for Lin or maybe even as our starting PG if the Knicks and Lin can't come to terms (say the Knicks don't want to give Lin the full MLE or more and they let him walk to a team that does, who knows. What if Lin's not healthy?). If everything works out & we do secure Lin, I like Patty a hell of a lot more at backup PG than Baron Davis & Toney Douglas...If Mills declines his option and becomes a FA, we might be able to steal him away from the Spurs if we come quick and aggressive with a decent offer. I think the priority this off-season should be this:

1. Retain Lin

1a. Retain JR Smith

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2. Make a run at Patty Mills if he becomes a FA, stepping up the offer if Lin's a goner -- if the Spurs keep Mills, sign either 6'4" PG/SG Matt Janning or 6'3" Ben Hansbrough to back up Lin.

3. Bring back Novak -- if we can't get him, offer a league minimum salary to former Cornell star Ryan Wittman to assume the 3-pt specialist role.

4. Resign Fields as a 2/3 swingman -- if that's not in the cards, league min deal for either DaJuan Summers or Sylven Landesberg. I'd love to add Summers even if we do bring back Fields. DeShawn Sims and Joe Alexander are two other solid swingman possibilities we could get for a league min. contract.

5. Shop Jerome Jordan and Toney Douglas. Jordan may never be ready for the NBA and Douglas' option should've never been picked up. With the couple of remaining roster spots, offer a league min salary to 7' C Marcus Cousin (who's flat out a better C prospect than Jordan) and PF Jeff Adrien for frontcourt depth. Summers/Cousin/Adrien would be EXCELLENT backups for our 3 starting frontcourt stars. We should be able to get all 3 on the cheap.

6. Obviously try to move up in the draft into the first round if possible. If we stay pat in the 2nd round, I'd take a shot at more SG depth (even more paramount if Fields and JR Smith aren't brought back) and draft either 6'6" Chris Johnson from Dayton (lefty 2 that reminds me a little of Reggie Williams/James Harden) or 6'6" Kimmie English from Missouri (real good shooter - reminds me of Dale Ellis/Jodie Meeks).

Back to Patty Mills -- the Spurs will be on TNT tonight following Knicks/Bobcats at 10:30 pm.



 
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Kiyaman

Legend
If Patty Mills want to have a long career in the NBA....it would be best for him to take any offer the Spurs give him to stay close to coach Pop & Parker
 

finestrg

Rotation player
I dunno man. I get the whole championship mentality in SA but there's really not much those guys can teach him. The talent's already there. Always has been. The man's a very good player. All he needs is an opportunity, more than what SA may be willing to provide. I don't think he needs SA to be successful.

Personally, I think he needs his own team to run. SA has huge money committed to Parker over the next several seasons and they drafted young Cory Joseph from Texas last summer presumably to be Parker's understudy. Yet they still go out and make the move for Mills 15 games ago. They gave him about 250k to play the rest of the season with a $1M player option for next year. Odds are he opts out of that -- (A) I think he's worth more than that and (B) I don't think he's gonna want to play caddy to Parker and then fight it out with Joseph for the leftover mins. Definitely not gonna be happy if Joseph wins the backup spot next year and he ends up not playing at all, I can tell you that...The man's already been through one overcrowd PG situation in Portland where he was the odd man out. Doubtful he's gonna want to go through that again. Yet he's playing very well right now, better than Joseph, so maybe he stays. Like you hinted at, the championship mentality may be a deciding factor. Plus the Spurs will be under the cap next summer so even if he declines the $1M player option, they still have the cap room to resign him if it took more than that.

I just feel like if we're aggressive we might be able to get him, esp. if SA is on the fence and indecisive. They might think they have big money committed to Parker with Joseph backing him up and that's enough -- $1M, take it or leave it. That's when the Knicks enter the picture --- if we came hard, say with a deal in the neighborhood of $2-3M with either a guarantee of a starting spot (if we don't bring back Lin) or a primary backup PG role (where it's explained to him beforehand that Bibby & Davis won't be back, Shump's gonna be a 2G and he won't have to worry about Toney Douglas taking any of his mins), we might be able steal him.

Ripping it up again tonight btw -- 18 pt/4 asst 1st half against the Warriors. What I love about him, in addition to his offensive ability, is his ability to push the ball up court and initiate the offense so quickly. He really gets out on the break and pushes the pace, getting guys the ball quickly in good position to do something with it. The quicker you get it up, the less time the defense has a chance to get set and the less thinking guys have to do. It becomes reactionary with less mistakes. Very high % offense when you play like that..It's really a '7 sec or less' type of approach he has out there...That's the way D'Antoni always wanted to play here but couldn't because he never had that type of PG. D'Antoni would've loved this kid Mills.
 
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Pricey

Rotation player
Wont be leaving the Spurs anytime soon, not as long as our Australia assistant head coach is still there.
 

finestrg

Rotation player
Mills killed it again last night starting in place of Tony Parker -- 43 mins, 34 pts on 14-25 FG (4-10 from 3), 12 assists, 5 rebs and 1 steal. Another impressive road win for the Spurs, 107-101 over the GS Warriors.. Career night for Patty. He definitely opened a lot of eyes these last two games.

Knicks need to keep this guy in mind this off-season even though he's starting to feel more like a long-shot for us. Maybe a sign and trade with SA using some of the following pieces: Jorts, Jerome Jordan, Fields, TD and our 2nd round pick.
 

CoolRunnings

Benchwarmer
Mills killed it again last night starting in place of Tony Parker -- 43 mins, 34 pts on 14-25 FG (4-10 from 3), 12 assists, 5 rebs and 1 steal. Another impressive road win for the Spurs, 107-101 over the GS Warriors.. Career night for Patty. He definitely opened a lot of eyes these last two games.

Knicks need to keep this guy in mind this off-season even though he's starting to feel more like a long-shot for us. Maybe a sign and trade with SA using some of the following pieces: Jorts, Jerome Jordan, Fields, TD and our 2nd round pick.


***you failed to mention that GS started 5 rookies, the first time in 50 years a team has done that.
 

finestrg

Rotation player
***you failed to mention that GS started 5 rookies, the first time in 50 years a team has done that.

Yeah, so what? What's Charles Jenkins, some stiff? He's bigger than Patty and plenty talented. So is Klay Thompson -- that Warrior backcourt Mark Jackson ran out there last night wasn't terrible -- both those guys have a lot of ability. They both kept GS right in the game until the end in fact...Patty's essentially a rookie himself mind you -- he never played a lot in Portland. Plus, Mills was running with all bench guys and reserves himself out there outside of DeJuan Blair. No Parker, no Duncan, no Manu...I thought the competition was on an equal playing field..Hey man, to lead your team to back to back road victories where he was the best player on the court both nights is damn impressive. Think about it bro -- 34 & 12 last night. 34 pts on an excellent % from the floor (14-25) and he also found time to dish out 12 dimes, mostly to reserve players..The kid can play.
 
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