Brooklyn Nets: Patty Mills could prove to be the steal of the offseason
Patty Mills could play an important role for the Brooklyn Nets.
Even though the Brooklyn Nets fell short of winning a championship last season, the scariest part of it all is that was probably the worst version of the Nets that we’re going to see for quite a while.
Kevin Durant was still shaking off some rust from his Achilles injury, Kyrie Irving was in-and-out of the lineup all year, and ultimately was lost due to an injury in the playoffs, and James Harden never seemed right since joining Brooklyn – and it was all punctuated by being a hobbled version of himself against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
With a full offseason to recover, the Nets should be even better heading into next season. And one acquisition that the team made during the offseason could end up being the steal of free agency.
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Brooklyn signed Patty Mills to a two-year, $12 million deal with the Nets. After the team lost Spencer Dinwiddie in free agency, it was important that the team try and find a bench spark that would retroactively replace Dinwiddie. Even though he didn’t play last season (due to injury), Mills is the type of player that can just do that.
And that’s not just basing off an incredible Olympic run in which he finally helped Australia medal. At 32 years old, Mills is still a one-man wrecking crew. When he’s been healthy, he’s played a big role for really good San Antonio Spurs teams.
Mills is coming off a season in which he averaged 11 points per game on 38 percent shooting from 3-point range. He isn’t going to post monster numbers for the Nets this season, but he can be a key contributor off the bench and, in spots, as a starter.
He’s a player that can both create his own offense and be an effective spot-up shooter by playing off Brooklyn’s big three.
It’s not a move that is going to garner many headlines heading into the start of the season, especially not on a team as talented as the Nets, but during the middle of the season or even into the playoffs, we could look back at this transaction as being one of the most underrated ones of the summer.
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The Nets will likely head into next season as one of the favorites to emerge in the Eastern Conference. And there’s a good chance that Mills will be playing a vital role for the Nets next season.