SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – The Utah Jazz have added veteran leadership to its young backcourt, signing 15-year NBA veteran Patty Mills to a one-year contract worth $3.3 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal is fully guaranteed.

Mills, who just turned 36, played 32 games for the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat during the 2023-24 season. But he showed he still has something left in the tank after averaging 16.5 points for Australia in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Mills broke into the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers as a second round pick out of St. Mary’s in 2009. He rose to prominence during his 10-year tenure with the San Antonio Spurs, helping them win the 2014 NBA Championship. Mills also played for the Brooklyn Nets from 2021-23.

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Mills played for Jazz head coach Will Hardy, who was an assistant with the Spurs.

He is the third Australian National Team member the Jazz have signed in recent years, along with Joe Ingles and Dante Exum.

Mills’ has career averages of 8.8 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. He is a career 42.4 percent shooter from the field. He has averaged double digits six times in his career, with a high of 11.6 points during the 2019-20 season.

Mills is expected to mentor Jazz point guards Keyonte George, Collin Sexton and rookie Isaiah Collier, who will most likely begin his career in the G-League.

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