Portland Trail Blazers free-agent Patrick Mills denies one year deal with Turkish team: NBA Update
The Australian national and the point guard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Patrick Mills has rubbished all rumours that he has signed a one year deal with an Istanbul based Turkish team Anadolu Efes.
Mills said, "I want to make it clear that I have not signed with any team in Turkey. I have received offers from teams but I have not come to any agreements with any of the teams there."
The second round 55th overall pick of the 2009 National Basketball Association Draft, said that he has kept his options open and is not in any hurry to sign a pact. He added that he will evaluate each
offer carefully that comes his way during this work stoppage. The 6 ft guard is an unrestricted free agent this season and is one of the three players that are doubtful for the Trail Blazers in 2011-12 season.
According to reports, the Trail Blazers who have the depth in their roster when it comes to point guards, have plans to officially make an offer to the 22 year old, but it seems as if Mills is not too interested in returning to
Portland.
The key reason behind it was despite of his decent play coming off the bench, Mills didn’t get much of the minutes in the game. In these circumstances, when there is high possibility that the lockout can wipe out the entire next
season Mills and his agent are looking at overseas opportunities. His agent had talks with several European clubs, including the Turkish team Anadolu Efes, but never confirmed a deal with any of them.
Patrick, who had also played in the NBA Development League, has received offers from his teams in Australia. Regarding this, he said.
"My intention during this lockout is to look at offers from Europe and Australia. I've made no decision where I'm going to play during the lockout as of yet, but I'm looking to come close to making a decision in the next few weeks."
With a good deal, Mills is also looking to grab an out clause that will allow him to return to the States whenever the dust settles down on the lockout, as his first priority is still to play in NBA. For the time being, Mills is
looking to help the Australian team Boomers against the Kiwis in a three game series. Mills said, "All these rumours with the lockout are obviously going on but my main focus at the moment is with the Boomers and in preparation for the New Zealand series."
During the last season, Mills played 64 games from the Trail Blazers and scored at an average of 5.5 points per game on an average 12 minutes stay in court.
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