Patty Mills has moved to quash the rumours we noted yesterday about him having signed on the dotted line to play with Andalou Efes in Turkey.
A press release from Basketball Australia opens the door to National Basketball League clubs and others in Europe to still secure the speedy guard’s services, before he finalises any contracts. Ultimately, he intends to focus on his Australian Boomers commitments, before returning to the Portland Trail Blazers when the lockout is lifted.
From BA:
Mills, whilst acknowledging that the Turkish team was one of a number of European clubs his agent was in talks with, emphatically denies that he has signed a contract with the club and was continuing to weigh his options both in Europe and the iiNet NBL Championship in Australia.
“I want to make it clear that I have not signed with any team in Turkey,” said Mills from his Canberra home this afternoon. “I have received offers from teams but I have not come to any agreements with any of the teams there.”
The star guard admitted that, apart from European offers, there had been “interest from a lot of NBL teams”.
“My intention during this lockout is to look at offers from Europe and Australia particularly for the reasons that my contract would have an out-clause, therefore when the NBA lockout does come to an end that I could head back over there then,” he said.
“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,” Mills added.
Mills said at the moment his full focus is on preparing for the Boomers’ upcoming Olympic qualification series against New Zealand, the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship which will be played in Melbourne (7 September), Brisbane (9 September) and Sydney (11 September) next month.
“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,” said Mills. “We’ve got the next camp coming up which is going to be a big camp for all of us guys to move forward before our exhibition games in London and Spain. It’s great coming home and being part of the Boomers so you can stay focused on the job at hand. Our one goal at the moment is to beat New Zealand and move ahead to qualify for the Olympics.”
