BOGUT HAILS ‘GENIUS’ MILLS MOVE
ANDREW Bogut has hailed Brooklyn’s Patty Mills signing as “genius” after the Aussie star put on a recordequalling three-point show in his Nets debut.
Mills picked up where he left off at the Tokyo Olympics with a standout performance in his maiden Brooklyn appearance despite a season-opening 127-104 loss to champions Milwaukee.
The Boomers guard came off the bench after five minutes and dropped four consecutive threes. He went on to finish with 21 points, including seven from seven from range, while adding 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Mills’ seven threes is tied for most in NBA history for a debut with a new team. The Aussie fan favourite also looked comfortable bringing the ball up the floor.
The scintillating display prompted ESPN commentators to declare: “Patty Mills with a couple of threes to start early and looking like he is playing for Australia at the Olympics.”
Bogut believes Mills is destined for a defining season at Brooklyn this season after leading the Boomers to a historic Olympic bronze medal.
“I think we will potentially see a career year for Patty,” Bogut said.
“It is a genius signing by them (Brooklyn) to get that done. He is going to play a huge role and dedicate as to how far they go in my opinion.
“He is going to be that third or fourth cog scoring wise. I think Patty was one of the best signings.
“I think it was one of the great retoolings to a championship team going into a season.”
Bogut expects Mills to play a bigger role with Nets superstar guard Kyrie Irving sidelined after refusing to take the Covid vaccination.