Lakers News: Veteran NBA Champ Bought Out, Possible LA Fit?
15-year NBA combo guard Patty Mills is nearing the end of the road.
After being flipped not once, not twice, but three times by the Brooklyn Nets over the summer, the 6'2" veteran landed with the Atlanta Hawks, with whom the Saint Mary's product played in just 19 contests this season before it was announced today that he would be getting cut.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Atlanta is waiving Mills' expiring $6.8 million contract and upgrading two-way guard Trent Forrest to join its standard 15-man roster.
The 35-year-old Mills will be eligible to suit up for a playoff contender provided that this move happens before tomorrow.
Mills, who won a title as a critical sharpshooting bench piece for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 (against LeBron James' Miami Heat, no less), is averaging 2.7 points on 37.3% shooting from the field but a still-point 38.2% from deep, plus 1.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists.
Would he be an intriguing possibility for James' current squad, your Los Angeles Lakers, as a Spencer Dinwiddie/Gabe Vincent replacement? He can still get buckets, and over the balance of his entire run has converted 38.9% of his 4.4 triple tries a night.
Dinwiddie has struggled mightily since arriving in LA. Through his first six games with the squad, he's averaging 5.2 points on .343/.238/1.000 shooting splits, 3.8 assists, 0.8 rebounds and 0.7 steals a night. The 23.8% shooting mark is the most troublesome, especially for a team that needs all the long range marksmanship it can get from its bench. Gabe Vincent has only been healthy for five games all year, and his return timeline is murky as the regular season flips to March.
