Patty Mills was not on the original roster for the Australian national team when it first came out for their qualifying games against New Zealand. There were reports that the San Antonio Spurs might be the reason Mills was not going to play as he is recovering from shoulder injury and he wouldn't be the only one as they are also holding out Boban Marjanovic from playing for his native Serbian team. Now Mills has reportedly been added to team Australia's roster for the qualifying games, according to ESPN.
Dante Exum was going to be one of Australia's point guards but he tore his ACL playing for his country recently and will not be able to play which left an opening that Mills will apparently fill. The Australian team will be playing against New Zealand on August 15th and 18th to try and qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio di Janeiro. Australia was going to be favored to win these games regardless of whether they had Mills but having one of their best players will only put them over the top.
Mills missed 31 games last season for the Spurs due to a shoulder injury and wasn't the same when he came back. Mills did have a good showing in the Spurs first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers but San Antonio was still concerned with getting their backup point guard fully healthy for next season. Mills reportedly insisted his shoulder was fine or he wouldn't be playing.
"If I wasn't in a position to play, then I don't think I'd be here. I have full confidence in my shoulder, my condition and my ability at the moment," said Mills.
Mills will be the Spurs primary backup point guard this season with Cory Joseph having left in free agency so he will be a huge part of a team that has NBA Championship aspirations. Mills has always been a plus 40 percent three point shooter in his career but last season the 27 year old had a down year so you can understand why the Spurs want to ensure that he's fully healthy. The fact that he will play in the upcoming qualifying games is a great sign for Spurs fans heading into the 2015-16 season.
