Wow! Didn't see that coming!
Only issue for Mills now is playing time. I still think he will be sent to the D-League like Jawai was at the Raptors get some playing time under his belt...

NBA Link: http://linky.com.au/2k79y

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Trail Blazers signed guard Patrick Mills to a contract, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Portland selected Mills (6-0, 185) with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after playing two seasons at St. Mary's (CA) College.

Mills, who fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during an NBA Summer League practice session on July 9, underwent successful surgery on July 13 and is continuing his rehabilitation on schedule.

The Australian national was an early entry candidate for the NBA Draft out of St. Mary’s, where he posted averages of 16.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.97 steals in two seasons. Mills, 21, was a First Team All-WCC selection as a freshman and sophomore.

AWESOME NEWS...

GOOD ON HIM!

Oh wow, haha, amazing. Good luck patty.

Like I said he'll get his chance. He did too well at the olympics to not be given a chance. Now let's hope he does something with this opportunity unlike Jawaii who is pissing his chances down his leg.

Wow, that is most unexpected. All the reports were saying Udoka was going to get the final roster spot and that Mills was about to become a FA.

Positive in the sense that Mills now has an income and that the Blazers think he has sufficient value to ensure they retain his rights. Could become a negative in time if Mills is unable to get playing time with whichever team Portland sends him to, but I think overall its a good thing for him to get some security while he rehabs.

That leaves me two questions:
- Is there a chance the Blazers have a trade in the works for Blake or Bayless that might open up a roster spot and some playing time for Mills?
- Will the Blazers try to talk Mills into playing overseas, or will they be happy with his original intentions to stay in the US (in which case he will probably play D-league).

Great news that he got signed, does it say how many years/conditions on that. I hope they intend to actually use him to some degree. I kinda liked his free agent status as well considering he is behind 3.5 pg at the blazers but that finish guy overseas. Just hope he can make something of it.

That's right, as long as he gets a chance to prove himself. Another super young Aussie point guard who was a second round pick had his rights hung onto by the Blazers for years and really stunted any chance he had of playing NBA.

This is a useful link guys:

http://linky.com.au/ss096

Blazers fans are still waiting on details of the contract, but seem to think it will be non-guaranteed and that they will waive him before the season starts.

The good thing about that, for those of us worried the Blazers will just hold onto Mills rights but not play him, is that if they do waive him he will be a FA and can seek the right team to play for.

He actually didnt get a run for the Cavs summer league team, they chose to play their second rounders instead.

Who knows whether he would have played NBA, but the Blazers holding his rights when they were deep at the pg spot didnt help those chances.

CJ had the talent, but so do lots of other players around the world, the key is getting the right opportunity.

Like the linky beantown posted said, the blazers fans think its going to be a sign and waive.

It sounds bad but it is a partly decent act by the blazers as it makes him an un-restricted FA.

Hopefully thats not the case though but as a Suns fan I'd rather Patty than Goran Dragic or Dan Dickau ANY day!! :/

"CJ had the talent, but so do lots of other players around the world, the key is getting the right opportunity."

Primary Example number one: Andrew Gaze. One year = one ring for the fifth wiggle.

Talk is that there are at least three NBA teams that have expressed interest in Patty if he is waived by Portland. Plenty fo talk and banter going on still. Guess we have to wait a month to find out.

So if he is waived there is still a strong possibility that he will compete in the league for another franchise.

Anon, he got minor minutes in those two games. The Cavs wanted to make a call on their second rounders despite the fact they told CJ he would play and they knew CJ was missing WC preparations.

They then asked him to make up numbers at veterans camp, which didnt sit too well at the time.

But really, summer league is junk ball that can never do justice to a player like CJ who has an incredibly high basketball IQ and makes teammates better.

CJ was certainly not too slow is his younger days, and while not as explosive later on, still had decent speed and has never really been troubled by a defender in terms of ball handling.

The thing that would have stopped him from being more than a backup if he had made it was his lack of size in defending the post and pick and roll. You have to be at Tony Parker or Chris Paul level for clubs to overlook that deficiency.

Interesting result in a poll on Blazersedge. Blazers fans (or perhaps Aussies disquised as Blazers fans) showed Patty a lot of love in the poll on this page:

http://linky.com.au/objwe

I still think he gets waived, but a few people make the argument that Udoka and Collins are both redundant too and that Patty has more upside, therefore they would rather keep him.

Bulls are very thin at the guards, I would love to get a Mills Chi Town jersey!

Good news that there a few teams interested in him still.

Would make great publicity in Oz if Mills was playing for 'Michael Jordan's team'.

Yeah, Schensch had some good coverage here for the same reason. That and he was wearing MJ's number!

What is the definition of impact too. Making a roster/allstar? Somewhere in between.

I wonder if that stat is just with the team that drafted them. Quite a few second rounders eventually end up at another club.

Yeah, I'd take that 4% figure with a grain of salt too. I'd much rather look at a players athleticism, size, bball skills and mental attitude than apply a statistical average.

It would be daft to sit there watching Gilbert Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Carlos Boozer, etc during their first NBA pre-season and say "only 4% of second round picks ever amount to anything, so this performance is probably just an abberation". Better to rely on the evidence before your eyes I reckon!

Paul, I hope Mills doesn't end up at the Bobcats! :-P

I am not talking him up at all - although you do seem determined to put him down.

Just saying that he is a very good player whose attempts to make the NBA were held back by a team who were deep in his position holding onto his rights. Not saying he would have made it.

There are plenty of guys who have played NBA and then moved overseas and been shown to not be nearly the player CJ is. As I stated clearly, he had some defensive size issues, but never got the chance to show how big a factor they would have been.

Certainly, in your one-sided view you forget that twice he was in the last cut at the Blazers. Hardly the effort of someone who is as bad as you suggest, especially given that he became a much better player in the years that followed that. He is certainly well respected around the world as a player.

You really dont like CJ.

He twice did a pre-season with Portland. He didnt get a run with the Cavs, they gave him very minor minutes. I have travelled to cover basketball and lots of people from OS know who he is, and think he is a good player.

He was solid (but not great) in Beijing and close to our best player in the most important game against Russia.

I wonder why you are so offended by the suggestion that CJ is a guy who could have got a backup gig in the NBA in the right circumstances.

Kirk Penney did. Shane Heal did. Ricky Grace did. Jo Jo English did. Oriene Greene did. Jason Crowe signed contracts. The list could go on and on.

Yet CJ is nowhere near it?

Ah ok, no worries. It's funny how often misunderstandings can happen in forums.

I wasnt saying CJ would have been a cert for the NBA, just that you need luck and to find team that needs your skills, and having one team with your rights really limits those opportuinities.

You are spot on about the NBA needing players to fit roles. And certainly CJ's size/strength would have counted against him.

His first year trying with the Blazers he was in the final 18, and then they cut 3 guys to get their squad of 15.

The 2 year deal has officially been inked by Mills...

BA Website: http://linky.com.au/kdn6m

Patrick Mills's NBA future is finally secure after the Canberra basketballer inked a two-year rookie deal worth almost $1million yesterday, writes Chris Dutton in The Canberra Times.

Awesome news for him!