REPORT: Teams circling Aussie hoops icon

One of Australia’s greatest-ever basketballers is reportedly weighing up a return to the Hungry Jack’s NBL for the 2026-27 season.

According to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc, 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2014 NBA champion Patty Mills has already been tabled an offer for next season.

Mills, who played games for Melbourne during the 2009-10 season, has also reportedly shown some interest in a return to the NBL, a feeling which is mutual around the League.

“We went through a smokiness last season [around Patty’s return], and every time, it never felt real, and we made that really clear,” Uluc said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“[Honestly], I never got a sense that Patty Mills was open to a return to the NBL, [but] this season, at least over the past week, I've gotten a real sense that [he] is open to a return.

“We always have to stress with these things; there are a lot of challenges in making something like this work, but enough teams are interested that the smoke is growing louder and louder.

“Look, it has to be the right fit, [and] it has to be the right everything.

“He's playing really well at Tenerife right now, and for the first time in a really long time, I've heard that Patty Mills is open to coming to the NBL.

“From what I was told, the Brisbane Bullets early in the piece made an offer to Patty Mills. That has since been declined, and there is no more interest between either of those two parties.

“Since then, I've gotten a sense that another team, perhaps a team out west, the Perth Wildcats, are a team that, they've discussed Patty's name internally.

“They've thought about the idea of bringing Patty Mills into the mix, and I think they're preparing to reach out, show some interest in Patty Mills and see what he would look like as a Perth Wildcat.”

Fellow panellist Pete Hooley said, much like he did about NBA veteran Joe Ingles, that ‘if a team believes Mills can help their franchise, they have to do the due diligence and try to make it happen’.

In terms of the fit on the Wildcats, Hooley questions Uluc about how a scoring guard like Mills would fit next to the newly re-signed Elijah Pepper.

“The [first] question is, what were the Perth Wildcats lacking this last season? It was a point guard,” Uluc said.

“The [next] question is, is Patty Mills a point guard? At this level, I'm not sure of the answer. People would regard him as a combo guard.

“Do they need more of a connective piece, or is his experience in the FIBA game enough to make up for not being as much of a connector as perhaps a pass-first point guard could be?”

Uluc’s comments follow Wildcats GM Danny Mills’ comments saying his club 'one clear deficiency last season was a playmaking guard’.

As it stands, Kristian Doolittle, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Dylan Windler, Ben Henshall, Jesse Wagstaff, Jaron Rillie, Cameron Huefner and Noa Kouakou-Heugue are on the Wildcats roster for next season.

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