3 NBA Champions the Milwaukee Bucks should pursue in free agency
By Dalton Sell
The Milwaukee Bucks should pursue NBA Champion Patty Mills in free agency
Patty Mills was a quality role player on the 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs that took home the title as he served as a significant sparkplug off the bench. Mills, a current member of the Brooklyn Nets, is eligible to hit NBA free agency this offseason if he opts out of his $6.2 million player option for the 2022-23 season. If the guard does opt to test the open market, the Milwaukee Bucks will likely be among the interested suitors, as they have targeted the guard in the past, with The Ringer insider Kevin O’Connor reporting that they expressed trade interest in Mills back in 2020. Their interest made sense back then, and it would still make sense today.
First and foremost, the Bucks need an upgrade at the backup point guard position this summer. George Hill, who currently plays the role, had a subpar 2021-22 campaign that saw him average some of the worst numbers in his career, so it is not controversial to say that the Bucks would be wise to scour the market for upgrades. Mills would be an immediate upgrade over Hill, given his ability to provide a second unit scoring spark. In 81 games with the Nets this past season, Mills averaged 11.4 points per contest while shooting 40 percent from 3-point land on a career-high seven attempts. Numbers like that would undoubtedly make Milwaukee’s bench brigade more formidable, giving them a legitimate scoring threat at the backup point guard position that can shoot the lights out from three.
Though Mills is a desirable target for the Bucks, the guard would first need to opt out of his player option for them to pursue him. At this point, there has been no word on whether or not Mills plans to accept or decline his option, so only time will tell. If he were to opt out, a large handful of teams would pursue him to improve their backcourt depth. The Bucks would not be able to offer Mills any significant compensation, but it should not stop them from making a hard run at him if he elects to hit free agency.