By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
La Laguna Tenerife has secured the services of Australian international point guard Patty Mills until the end of the season, adding a player with an extensive and successful career both in international FIBA basketball and in the NBA.
Mills arrives in the Canary Islands after a remarkable journey in the world’s top basketball league, where he played a total of 1,020 games — 921 in the regular season and 99 in the playoffs — across seven different NBA franchises.
Born in Canberra on August 11, 1988, the 1.83-meter guard began his basketball development in his native Australia. He attended Marist College and later Lake Ginninderra College, before joining the Australian Institute of Sport, where he quickly stood out with the country’s youth national teams. His talent earned him a move to the United States, where he completed his collegiate career with the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the NCAA between 2007 and 2009.
Mills was selected in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round (55th overall). That selection marked the beginning of a long NBA career in which he represented several teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers (2009–2011), San Antonio Spurs (2011–2021), Brooklyn Nets (2021–2023), Atlanta Hawks (2023–2024), Miami Heat (2023–2024), Utah Jazz (2024–2025) and the Los Angeles Clippers (2024–2025), his most recent team.
The most notable chapter of his NBA career came during a decade with the San Antonio Spurs under coach Gregg Popovich, where Mills became a key contributor. During that span he averaged 10.2 points per game while shooting 42 percent from three-point range, and was part of the team that won the 2014 NBA Championship.
Throughout his professional journey, Mills also played in the NBA G League with the Idaho Stampede (2009–2010) and spent time overseas during the 2011–12 NBA lockout, competing for Melbourne in Australia and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China.
A full international for Australia, Mills has competed in five Olympic Games: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2021, and Paris 2024. In Tokyo he won the bronze medal and had the honor of serving as Australia’s flag bearer. He has also played in three FIBA World Cups — Turkey 2010, China 2019, and the 2023 tournament hosted by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.
Across 64 official appearances with the national team in Olympics, World Cups, and Oceania Championships, Mills averaged 17.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.