Doubts over how Australian sensation Patty Mills would fare alongside three offensive juggernauts on the Brooklyn Nets mounted from the moment he committed to depart San Antonio, but those concerns have been put to rest.
The 13-year NBA veteran is bringing the unrelenting vigor of his FIBA alter ego to Atlantic Avenue this season as one of the best volume shooters in basketball.
Averaging career-best marks in points, three-point makes, and field goal attempts per game, Mills is taking his uptempo playstyle to another level with a barrage of deep jumpers in a way that few players can replicate.
Playing with contagious energy and extraordinary efficiency as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Patty Mills is reasserting why he’s championship material
In years past, Mills was a conduit through which the Spurs’ elite bench unit operated. He took fewer shots than he is now and spent more time getting the ball into the right hands on a given play. That oftentimes left him sacrificing individual production in order to properly adhere to Coach Gregg Popovich’s system.
A Spur for life in spirit, Mills has found himself in an entirely different scenario. The Nets allow him to play – and more importantly, shoot the ball – freely. Attention is oftentimes drawn away from him by star talent, empowering the spry 33-year-old to either break down his defenders and create a shot or get a catch-and-shoot for a quality three-point look.
Hitting 42.7 percent of 7.7 attempts per game, Mills has the most efficient three-point percentage of any player shooting at least seven long shots per game this season. Ranked in the 97th percentile of each, Mills grades out with an A+ in perimeter shooting and three-point shot-making, per B-Ball Index.
For as talented a three-point shooter as he is, Mills’ shot creation ability isn’t limited to beyond the arc. He’s a tough shot-maker in the mid-range with a great sense of his surroundings.
If he’s got a better look at a pull-up from the baseline than a corner three, he’ll opt for the higher-quality shot over a more numerically valuable one.
Brooklyn is catering to Patty’s abilities by running him off screens and allowing him to operate in open space around the perimeter. Mills is shifty and methodical with the ball in his hands, taking a high volume of step-back jumpers after changing dribble moves together so quickly that his defender loses track of the ball.
A true veteran leader with championship experience, Mills’ value to the Nets extends far beyond the numbers alone. He is, and always will be, a team-first player who’s willing to sacrifice his production if it means impacting winning.
That’s part of why his on/off differential of +8.8 points per 100 possessions ranks second amongst the team’s rotation players (behind only eight games of Kyrie Irving).
The same way he did for 10 years in San Antonio, Mills’ prerogative is to make winning plays. If that means dropping a pinpoint pass to a teammate or simply swinging the ball around the perimeter, he’ll do it without hesitating. If his team needs a bucket, Patty has no problem going for it. If he’s asked to guard the opponent’s best player, he’ll put all of his energy into slowing them down
There are holes in his game and a few questions to be addressed in the playoffs, though. Most glaringly, the Brooklyn Nets need to learn if, or how, Mills can co-exist with the guard tandem of Kyrie Irving and James Harden against lineups with big guards and wings.
There will always be a question of how he’ll match up physically, though his resilient spirit guides him to hold up in a battle with anyone.
Even when the game slows down in the postseason, Patty never lets off the gas pedal. When it’s time to compete for a championship, you can guarantee he’ll put his whole heart into bringing a banner to Brooklyn.