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Australian Boomers and Portland Trailblazers point-guard Patty Mills has reportedly signed a one-year deal with Turkish club Anadolu Efes, according to Turkish Hoops and Sportando.net.
Joining Mills will be Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova, who has said to have agreed to terms with a one-year €2.7M contract, and former New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic, who signed with the club in July.
It is not known if there’s a clause in Mills’ contract to return to the NBA once the lockout has ceased.
Efes are Turkish basketball’s most successful franchise, winning 13 titles, most recently in 2010. With the addition of these three NBA players, they’d once again be shooting for another title run.
Mills was reportedly talking to NBL clubs Adelaide, Wollongong and Townsville, who were making pushes for the Olympian to sign with them during the current lockout.
Portland had made a qualifying offer for the young guard, however, with the possibility of a shortened NBA season, or at worst no season, moving to Europe to play basketball in the interim is the best option for Mills.
He is still only a young, developing basketball player and coming into the most important 12 months of his basketball career to date, with the London Olympics around the corner, contractual certainty is a must.
Efes will be playing in the 2011-12 Euroleague, the second best club competition outside of the NBA. They are drawn in Group C alongside European basketball heavyweights Real Madrid, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Partizan Belgrade and Olimpia Milano.
Although having Mills return to the NBL would have been great for the struggling league, Australia’s medal chances and Mills’ development have definitely been given a boost by him being able to compete against some of the best players in Europe.
Some point guards that Mills will possibly line-up against in the Turkish League and Euroleague include: Deron Williams (Besiktas), Roko Ukic (Fenerbahce), Jaka Lakovic (Galatasaray), Omar Cook (Olimpia Milano), Acie Law (Partizan), Jordan Farmar (Maccabi) and Sergio Llull (Real Madrid).
Turkish clubs have been very active this off-season, talking to a number of NBA players to come over to their league for a stint whilst the NBA is locked out. Williams signed with Besiktas for $5million, including a get-out clause when the NBA season resumes. Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant has also been linked with the club.
Whilst the NBL is the premier basketball competition in the southern hemisphere, some players haven’t been able to improve, or even maintain an elite level of basketball after a season in the league. Luke Schenscher is a great example of this.
You only had to watch today’s Stankovic Cup final versus Angola to see how far the stock of the former NBA centre and NCAA standout has fallen.
Whilst most Australian’s may be upset that Mills may not play a minute in the NBA this season along with not being able to see him week-in-week-out in the NBL, they should be happy that he has made the decision to better his career signing with once of the most prominent basketball clubs in the world.
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