Patty Mills signs with Miami Heat in blockbuster NBA return

Aussie star Patty Mills’ NBA career has been resurrected with a star-studded team signing him up immediately.

Patty Mills. Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images.

Patty Mills has signed with the Miami Heat for the rest of the 2023-24 NBA season.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the Australian has found a new home just days after he was brutally axed by the Atlanta Hawks.

ESPN reports Mills’ short-term deal will expire after this season’s playoffs.

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The 35-year-old’s future and Olympics hopes appeared in doubt after the Hawks waived him a day before the NBA’s March 1 buyout deadline.

Mills has a real chance of playing post-season basketball with the Heat, who sit seventh on the Eastern Conference table with a record of 34-26 and are just 1.5 wins away from a spot in the top four.

Mills will join a star-studded Heat roster which includes Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro and Kevin Love.

It comes da after Australian basketball great Chris Anstey said Mills should head to Europe to get solid court time in order to best prepare for the Boomers’ 2024 Paris Olympics campaign.

Patty Mills is taking his talents to Miami. Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images.

It’s good news for the Boomers. Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP.

The star guard, who steered the Boomers to a historic bronze medal in Tokyo, played in just 19 games for the Hawks.

Anstey, who finished his career in Europe after the NBA, said such a move could help Mills ahead of the Games.

“This could be a really interesting few months for Patty Mills,” Anstey said on social media platform X.

“Taking a high level, high opportunity European contract to finish the European season could be the best preparation for his final Olympic Games.”

This could be a really interesting few months for @Patty_Mills
Taking a high level, high opportunity European contract to finish the European season could be the best preparation for his final Olympic Games

— Chris Anstey (@ChrisAnstey13) February 29, 2024

Mills has played 15 seasons in the NBA for a total of 879 career games and arrived at the Hawks after trades from Brooklyn to Houston and Oklahoma City.

He spent a decade at the San Antonio Spurs, where he won an NBA championship, and maintains a close relationship with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Mills has previously spoken about potentially finishing his career back home with a stint in the NBL.

Originally published as Patty Mills signs with Miami Heat in blockbuster NBA return