You can never have enough shots.
The Miami HEAT signed Patty Mills, a 6-foot-2 guard who first entered the league in 2009, and it doesn’t take particularly deep analysis to understand why. Mills is a career 38.9 percent shooter on 4.4 attempts per game, meaning only 26 players in league history can match that. These are also modern numbers in terms of volume, since on that list of 26, only six players – Reggie Miller, Dennis Scott, Ray Allen, Peja Stojakovic, Kyle Korver and JJ Redick – started their careers before Mills. Before the last ten years, it was much rarer for a player to attempt more than 10 threes per 100 possessions. Only six players – Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Buddy Hield, Tim Hardaway Jr., Paul George and Klay Thompson – have more seasons than Mills’ six with as many pace-adjusted attempts.
In short, Mills is one of the most prolific shooters in the league. The only reason he’s not higher than 49th on the league’s all-time three-pointers rankings is because he’s typically played about 20 minutes per game off the bench, especially during his 10 seasons with San Antonio, which included one title. in 2013-14. But Mills isn’t just a spot-up shooter, having more in common with motion guards like Redick and Duncan Robinson than your classic catch-and-shoot guys. We cannot reach the volume it has without being able to open. You have to imagine Erik Spoelstra can see Mills executing a handoff and throw from Bam Adebayo, and even though Mills, at 35, isn’t quite the speedster he once was, the balance and play of legs it takes to play like he never does. away, and there’s a second level of spacing and gravity that comes with this style that more stationary shooters rarely hit.
On top of all that, Mills – north of 85 percent of his shots are threes or mid-range shots – is a career 43.9 percent shooter from the corners. Since tracking data was posted online during the 2013-14 season, Mills is No. 18 in corner threes made.
As with any guard, the size of his defense will be a question, although Mills has generally been more than capable of running coverage – he hasn’t played this long in San Antonio without being in the right spots and at the right times – and generally has a solid steal rate, a result of quick hands he uses to slide low on the ball. As with another recent Delon Wright signing, it’s unclear whether Mills will get significant minutes night to night or if he acts more like an insurance policy – Josh Richardson is out for the season due to shoulder surgery – as a defensive player. Wright has mostly been the latter in the first few weeks of his tenure, but Mills is an impact player even if he’s not on the field, a Tier 1 guy, elite in the locker room.
“He knows what it takes to be part of an organization, he knows what it means to build trust and also do it at the highest level. You need a guy like Patty Mills just to make the locker room synergistic,” Kyrie Irving said during Mills’ time in Brooklyn.
“Patty is without a doubt the spiritual leader of our team. It embodies empathy, awareness, the ability to act after talking about things. He’s a very special human being,” Gregg Popovich said while Mills was in San Antonio.
When Miami brought in Kevin Love last season, he fit into the locker room almost immediately and it’s not at all hard to imagine Mills doing the same. He is a very energetic veteran, who has seen it all, who will arrive in a trio with volume and efficiency at all times. There is no downside to having a player and person like that on your bench.
