San Antonio Spurs reserve guard Patty Mills entered free agency this summer with a lot of momentum. After hitting 13 three pointers in the NBA Finals, Mills emerged as a potential option for various teams looking for perimeter shooting. But all of that excitement was dampened yesterday when it was revealed Mills could miss up to seven months with a shoulder injury which will require surgery.
Via Chris Dutton of the Sydney Morning Herald:
Mills will have an operation to repair the torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder – his shooting shoulder – after he carried the injury for most of the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA title-winning season.
He could miss up to four months of the 2014-15 NBA season. It’s a massive blow for the 25-year-old just two weeks after basking in championship glory and on the same day he tests the NBA free-agency market for the first time.
Mills said his enforced layoff could affect his next move, after experts predicted he could receive offers of up to $5 million.
The news is devastating not only because Mills’ value on the open market after his performance for the title-winning Spurs would have netted him a long-term deal, but this also rules him out of participating in the FIBA Basketball World Cup later this summer with Australia.
Even though Mills dealt with the pain all season long, the diagnosis still came as a shock to him:
Patty Mills says: "it was a shock, but I knew something was wrong with my shoulder. I had pain during the season."
— Chris Dutton (@BlockaDutton) July 2, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It is expected the Spurs will re-sign Mills and wait for him to recover:
Strong likelihood, I'm told, is Patty Mills re-signing w/San Antonio & taking 'til January to recover. Firmer diagnosis to come post-surgery
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 2, 2014
Here’s hoping to a full recovery for Mills, as he was finally coming into his own and growing comfortable in his role as a scorer off the bench for the Spurs.
What do you think?
Follow steven lebron on Twitter at @steven_lebron.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE
