JULY 7: The pick the Nets received in the trade is their own 2024 second-rounder with top-55 protection, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Houston acquired Brooklyn’s 2024 second-rounder in a prior trade and will retain it if it lands between 31-55 next June.
JULY 6: The Nets and Rockets have officially completed their trade sending guard Patty Mills to Houston, according to a pair of press releases from the clubs.
Along with Mills, Houston acquired the Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick. The Rockets sent a protected future second-rounder to Brooklyn. While the exact details on that pick aren’t known, it’ll have top-55 protection, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Mills will only be a Rocket temporarily. He’s being flipped to the Thunder as part of Houston’s Dillon Brooks sign-and-trade acquisition, as Adrian Wojnarowski first reported over the weekend.
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) suggests Oklahoma City will be receiving three second-round picks as part of its deal for Mills, though we’re still waiting for clarity on the full terms of that trade agreement. According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Rockets will actually send two second-round picks to Oklahoma City and will amend the terms of a previously traded second-rounder.
A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He averaged 6.2 points and 1.4 assists in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.
“Patty was an exemplary representative of the Nets during his two years in Brooklyn, both for his contributions on the court and his impact in the community,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “We thank Patty for all he has brought to our organization and wish him and Alyssa nothing but the best in their next chapter.”
Mills is earning $6.8MM on an expiring contract in 2023/24. By acquiring him using cap space and using him as a salary-matching piece in a subsequent deal, the Rockets will be able to preserve a bigger chunk of cap room before eventually abiding by salary-matching rules to go over the cap in their sign-and-trade for Brooks. That deal is expected to involve four or five teams, including the Grizzlies and Hawks — as noted above, the full details aren’t yet known.
It’s not clear if the Thunder plan to hang onto Mills once they acquire him. If they cut him, he’d be eligible to sign with any team besides Houston (including Brooklyn).
Please add the Thunder part of the trade to the headline – its the annual national “OKC hot stove day” we should all respect.
Very interesting that Mills would be able to re-sign with Brooklyn, though I don’t see it happening.
Yes it is an interesting win-win-win deal.
Brooklyn pays (1) 2nd to immediately free up $6.8m in cap space.
Houston pays (3) 2nds to avoid using cap space for Dillon deal.
OkC theoretically could buy Mills out for ~ price of Vet min $3.1m and which means they essentially sold $3.7m of cap space for (3) 2nds.
Nets could then theoretically sign Mills for Vet Min but only get charged a cap hit of ~ $2m. So if that happened they would eliminate $4.1m of cap hit for Mills at the cost of (1) 2nd and still have Mills.
Could the Bulls help OKC get their roster down to 15 by accepting Patty Mills into the Disabled Player Exception (10.2mil) from Lonzo Ball?
I believe that would work, he is on an expiring deal, and I can’t imagine OKC would have any issue dealing him for a protected 2nd