On Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks managed to shave a considerable amount of salary off the books by trading guard TyTy Washington Jr., forwards Rudy Gay and Usman Garuba, and a future second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for veteran guard Patty Mills.
The Hawks will save $4.5 million with the deal, which keeps the team under the luxury tax line, and will send OKC a second-round pick for absorbing the additional salary. Washington and Garuba were sent to Atlanta along with some second-round picks from Houston last week. Gay was picked up in the deal that sent John Collins to the Utah Jazz.
This is the third time in the last 10 days that Mills has been moved. First, he was sent from the Brooklyn Nets to the Houston Rockets, then moved from the Rockets to the Thunder before settling in Atlanta. It’s still undetermined if the 34-year-old point guard will remain on the roster for this season as the Hawks already have a depth at the position.
The addition of Mills could help the squad as a proven veteran off the bench behind Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. The 2009 second-round draft pick from St. Mary’s was a key contributor to the San Antonio Spurs during their championship run in 2014. Even at this stage in his career, Mills is a strong shooter from outside with a career mark of 38.9% from 3PT and is known for his ball security.
If the Hawks want to keep him around and pay the $6.8M for the aging backup, he could add the leadership to the locker room that most Hawks fan could argue has been missing from the franchise recently. With the addition of first-rounder Kobe Bufkin from the draft, it’s a possibility that Mills is shipped out again if a contending team puts the right offer together and Atlanta could continue to make moves this offseason to enhance the roster.