Toronto Raptors: 5 potential free agency targets if the core leaves
By Nate Wolf
3. Patty Mills, PG
The Scenario: Both Lowry and Ibaka leave
Everything that I wrote about Ian Clark applies to Patty Mills, times two. And that goes for the salary, as well. If Clark is worth $8 million, Mills may well be worth more than $15 million.
At this point in their respective careers, Mills is a better player than Tony Parker, which he proved last season. Except here’s the thing: The Spurs won’t want to lock up significant money in Mills if they either like the potential of Dejounte Murray or feel they can chase high-end free agents this year or next.
Mills is 28, which isn’t great for Toronto’s purposes, but he’s an excellent on-court fit. One of the best shooters in the league, Mills has drained nearly 40 percent of his career three-pointers, which he attempts at a high volume.
The Aussie is a spark plug equally comfortable on or off the ball. He can fly off screens and stay ready for second actions as DeRozan runs pick-and-rolls. In Toronto’s guard-oriented system, Mills may well be a 15-point, five-assist per game kind of player.
Defensively, he’s not a significant drop-off from Lowry. The Spurs’ backup bigs last season were David Lee and Pau Gasol, yet the team posted an elite 99.9 defensive rating with Mills on the court. That number increased to 101.8 without him. He can get pancaked by heavy screens, but in the end, Mills comes from the Popovich School of Defensive Solidity.
There are downsides to signing Mills, of course. Namely, he’s too good, too old and too expensive a player to rebuild with. That said, the Mills-DeRozan pairing may be strong enough to keep Toronto relevant as the franchise searches for DeRozan’s next real sidekick.