Injured Patty Mills aiming for a return to NBA
Former Portland Trail Blazers guard Patty Mills is amongst the players who pursued overseas opportunities this summer, because of the NBA lockout that had put the future of regular season in danger.
While other players returned to NBA after the lockout was lifted, there were a few, including the guard, which could not.
The group consists of those players that opted to play in the Chinese Basketball League- a league which has strict terms and conditions and, unlike the European leagues, does not provide an opt out clause for the players.
However in the coming weeks or months, Mills might be back in NBA.
Mills who is representing Xinjiang Flying Tigers was cut by the team earlier in January following a hamstring injury, which the team argued was a fake one and was made up by Mills as an excuse to get back to NBA. The injury has since turned out to be real.
Still nursing the injury, Mills is back in the US and hoping Tigers give him a clearance letter, because without it, he cannot take part in the NBA
"It would be good to get released, obviously that's what I'm hoping for. We just don't know," Mills said Wednesday night after attending the Blazers' game against the Orlando Magic.
Mills, who was selected by Blazers in the 2009 NBA draft, has played only two seasons with the team and although it is highly unlikely that Blazers will acquire him, their roster is jam-packed at the moment, he still wishes to play for them.
"I'd love to be back here. I don't know the chances, but obviously I feel like I'm very close to the guys on the team here and obviously to the community," Mills said. "To come back to a place like this, it definitely feels like home to me."
Mills hails from Australia and was the only other foreign player in the Blazers roster along with Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez. His friendly nature and funny moves inside the court made him a fan favourite within a short span of time.
He is only 23 at the moment and although he averages only 5.1 points and 1.5 assists at the, those numbers are definitely going to rise in the coming years because he possesses the talent and the skills to play at the highest level and once he recovers from
his injury, there is still a lot of basketball left in him.
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