Boston Celtics: Source says Cs are a “team to watch” for Patty Mills

According to a recent report, the Boston Celtics are a team to watch for free-agent, Patty Mills, and I couldn’t be happier to be seeing this.

The current state of the C’s guard depth is questionable, to say the least, as Marcus Smart and Payton Pritchard are the only guards with any real experience. With this, to see Boston being interested in not only a veteran guard but someone who can help the bench score the ball, I’m all ears.

The 32-year-old has been playing for the San Antonio Spurs for the past 10 years and has consistently been one of the best bench players in the league. He was also on the 2014 team that won the NBA Finals which is nice because a little winning experience has never hurt anybody.

Over his entire career, Mills has averaged nine points and two assists in 20 minutes per game while shooting 39 percent from deep.

Patty Mills would secure the bench point guard position, likely either splitting time with Payton Pritchard or occasionally sharing the backcourt with him. I say that because that specific pairing lacks size and, although Pritchard is a fine defender, the same can not be said of Mills.

But Mills would also be a great fit sliding into the starting point guard spot when necessary. The Boston Celtics would probably need Smart running alongside him, but offensively he’s a near-perfect fit with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

He can work as a deadly catch-and-shoot threat while also being another player that can handle the ball and create shots for himself, which is an aspect fans have been alerted to if they’ve been watching the recent Team Australia exhibition games.

And the best part of it all is that Patty Mills is relatively inexpensive.

It’d almost be like having a Kemba Walker-lite, but on a much smaller deal.

Now, you may be asking yourself: does adding the veteran completely solve the C’s issues this offseason?

No, not at all.

I still wouldn’t be against another guard being added to the rotation, preferably someone with more playmaking experience that could start alongside Smart.

But Mills is definitely a step in the right direction.

He’s another player that’s capable of scoring 20+ on any given night which could go a long way in helping ease the scoring burden that will presumably be on Tatum and Brown.

He’ll operate from the bench for the most part which I hope we all remember was a huge weak spot for last year’s team. I lost count of the number of times the Boston Celtics used bench lineups that were simply incapable of scoring the ball.

He also brings a veteran presence, another thing that was desperately missed on last year’s team. Not to mention that his experience comes from being a San Antonio Spur, one of the most respected franchises in the league.

Plus, if this report is accurate and the Celtics really are pursuing Patty Mills, I think there’s a really good chance that he ends up in Boston.

The front office recently hired Ime Udoka to be the team’s next coach for those who might’ve forgotten. And where did Udoka complete a majority of his time as an assistant coach prior to taking the Boston job?

San Antonio.

He was there from 2012-2019, all years that Patty Mills was also apart of the organization.

I, for one, would be very happy to see a reunion.