Veteran NBA Champion Signs With Western Conference Squad on One-Year Deal

The Utah Jazz have made a free agent addition.

On Wednesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Jazz and veteran guard Patty Mills have agreed to a one-year, $3.3 million deal for the 2024-25 season. The deal is fully guaranteed and will reunite Mills with coach Will Hardy, who was with the San Antonio Spurs during Mills' tenure there.

Mills, 36, will be entering his 16th season in the NBA. Mills was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He spent two seasons with the Blazers before signing with the Spurs after the NBA's lockout (when he played in his home country of Australia).

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Mills would spend the next 10 seasons in San Antonio and was a key role player on their squad for his entire tenure. Mills joined a Spurs team that won four NBA championships in the last decade-plus (1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007), and would help them win one more in 2014 against the Miami Heat.

Mills appeared in a total of 665 games with the Spurs, averaging 9.4 points in an off-the-bench role. He earned 6th Man of the Year votes in both the 2013-14 and 2016-17 seasons.

After the 2020-21 season, Mills joined the Brooklyn Nets. He spent two seasons in Brooklyn and then spent the 2023-24 season with the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat. In 32 games this past season, Mills averaged four points across 13 minutes per game.

Mills has always been known for his 3-point abilities. Mills is a career 38.6 percent shooter from deep on 4.4 attempts per game. He shot 40 percent from 3-point land as recently as the 2021-22 season with the Nets.

Mills has averaged double-digit points per game in six seasons. His career-best scoring season came in 2019-20 when he averaged 11.6 points across 22.5 minutes per game with the Spurs.

At this stage in his career, Mills is a great veteran presence who will contribute minimally on the scoring end. Mills will be a great mentor to young guards Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier, who the team selected late in the first round of this year's draft.

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The Jazz's most impactful move this offseason was re-signing All-Star Lauri Markkanen on a five-year, $238 million extension that includes $220 million in new money. Markkanen is ineligible to be traded for the entirety of the 2024-25 season, so he'll look to help the Jazz improve on their 31-51 finish a year ago.