The Atlanta Hawks have waived 15-year veteran guard Patty Mills, providing the Boomers with a complex selection issue ahead of Paris 2024.
The 35-year-old Mills played sparingly for the Hawks after being acquired from Oklahoma City last summer. He averaged 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 19 games with Atlanta.
Mills is now without a team as the Boomers look to go better than their bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
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The Australian legend’s lack of game time could present a problem for coach Brian Goorjian after the Boomers failed to move past the second round at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1763271258131571114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Fellow Aussie Dyson Daniels is also recovering from a knee injury and could be on the sidelines for a significant period while Dante Exum has also just returned to the court.
Former Boomer Chris Anstey encouraged Mills to make the move to Europe.
“This could be a really interesting few months for Patty Mills,” he wrote on X.
“Taking a high level, high opportunity European contract to finish the European season could be the best preparation for his final Olympic Games.”
https://twitter.com/ChrisAnstey13/status/1763304136878239902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Mills has 879 appearances, including 107 starts, over a career spent largely with the San Antonio Spurs. He also played for Portland and Brooklyn before joining the Hawks, posting career averages of 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.