Patty Mills knows what it takes to win in the NBA. He’s won an NBA title. He’s been in the playoffs in 12 of his 14 years in the league. That’s more than 1,500 career playoff minutes over 94 games.
So he knows what it takes to make the NBA playoffs.
Like Nets GM Sean Marks, Mills feels good about the Nets chances to make the cut this April.
“I think we’ve got enough time to be able to do it. It’s the quality of things that you put together every single day,” Mills said late Monday in an interview with SNY. “I think we’ve got enough time to be able to (establish) our identity and be able to make a push, for sure.”
Like much of the rest of the NBA world, Mills woke up on Thursday morning to the news that Kevin Durant had been traded to Phoenix. He wasn’t surprised.
“It’s kind of like you just play the hand that you’re dealt. This train has gotta keep moving, it can’t stop.” Mills said. “I’m very happy with who we have in our locker room now. We’ll just go out and go play together.”
Mills signed with Brooklyn in the 2021 offseason. At the time, the team was preparing to run it back with Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
On Monday – days after blockbuster trades of Irving and Durant – they started Spencer Dinwiddie, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton.
It’s a vastly different group from the one Mills probably envisioned when he signed his first deal with the Nets.
But the 34-year-old feels good about the current group.
“It’s obviously a change. You look at the positives and the group that we have now, we have a great locker room. All really good dudes,” Mills said. “Have played significant roles on other teams, winning teams as well. Hopefully it doesn’t take long for us to click and come together .”
In the brief chat with SNY, Mills referenced the off-court bonds between teammates more than once.
“Genuinely, you look around the room and we’ve just got really solid dudes,” he said. “(Potential) friendships, (where) you can talk and you can go outside of the basketball court, which I think at the end of the day makes a real impact on what we can do on the court.”
The Nets are very much a team in transition. Teams in touch with them prior to the deadline came away with the impression that they were not interested in a full rebuild. Those teams came away with the impression that Brooklyn wanted to add more talent in the near future.
They had conversations with the Raptors and other teams about potential deals. They talked to teams about potential deals involving Ben Simmons.
Nothing major came to fruition after the Durant deal. Now, this Nets club has a clear objective over the next six weeks or so. Win games and make the playoffs. Mills feels good about their chances.
“This is no doubt a playoff team,” he says.