11
Aug
Breaking News
Mills inks one-year ASVEL deal to play under Parker
Australian Boomers legend Patty Mills reacts during La Laguna Tenerife's Liga Endesa semi-final against FC Barcelona at Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona, Spain, on June 9, 2026. Mills is reportedly set to reunite with former San Antonio Spurs teammate Tony Parker at French club ASVEL Villeurbanne after ending speculation of an NBL return. Photo: Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images
Highlights
The Canberra-born guard turns 38 on Tuesday has signed a one-year deal with Tony Parker's LDLC ASVEL
- Mills signs a one-year deal with LDLC ASVEL for the 2026-27 season
- He will make his EuroLeague debut under new head coach Tony Parker
- Perth and Brisbane both miss out after chasing him for NBL27
Australian Boomers icon "FIBA Patty" Mills has put pen to paper on a one-year deal with LDLC ASVEL, ending a summer of NBL speculation and reuniting him with Tony Parker in France.
The Villeurbanne club confirmed the signing overnight
"LDLC ASVEL is delighted to announce the signing of Australian point guard Patty Mills for the 2026-2027 season," the club said in its announcement.
"NBA Champion with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 and an iconic figure for the Boomers, 'FIBA Patty' will bring to the Villeurbanne collective his talent, experience, and leadership honed over nearly two decades at the highest level."
Mills, 37, turns 38 today (Tuesday, August 11, 2026), and will make his EuroLeague debut in his 18th season as a professional.
Parker, 44, is ASVEL's president and, since June 27, 2026, its head coach. He and Mills shared a San Antonio backcourt for nine seasons and won the 2014 championship together, but they have never worked as coach and player.
The deal survived a financial scare that had it written off a fortnight ago.
ASVEL had planned a EUR €59 million (approximately AUD $98 million) budget for 2026-27, the largest in French basketball history, before the guarantees offered by a prospective Asian investor were rejected by the DNCCG, France's financial watchdog.
The club filed a Plan B worth about EUR €24 million (approximately AUD $40 million), approved on July 29, 2026.
Fox Sports Australia, citing BasketNews, reported the revision had put Mills' deal in danger, and guard Sylvain Francisco has since left the club.
Mills stayed. He had already knocked back a two-year offer from Partizan worth EUR €1.8 million (approximately AUD $2.9 million) to take the ASVEL deal, and he did not move when the budget did.
Both the Perth Wildcats and the Brisbane Bullets chased the five-time Olympian for NBL27, with Perth going into a full-court press for a marquee guard, and both have now been beaten by a coach Mills won a title with.
Mills arrives in France off one season in Spain with La Laguna Tenerife, and he left a marker on the way out.
Barcelona swept him out of the Liga Endesa semi-finals 3-0, but Game 2 was vintage.
On Saturday, June 6, 2026 (AEST), Mills poured in 36 points in a 97-89 loss, going 8-from-15 from three, 4-from-7 from inside the arc and 4-from-4 from the charity stripe in 35 minutes, adding three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
He had nine points and five assists in the 100-67 Game 1 loss, and was held to two points and two assists in 21 minutes as Barcelona closed the series out 85-76.
Across the sweep he finished with 47 points, nine assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block, at 15.7 points a game.
He had also dropped 29 points on Real Madrid earlier in the same playoffs.
ASVEL finished fourth in the Betclic Élite regular season last year at 20-10 from 30 games.
Mills played 921 NBA games at 8.7 points and 38.5 per cent from deep after Portland took him 55th overall in the 2009 draft out of Saint Mary's, and he ran through Brooklyn, Atlanta, Miami, Utah and the LA Clippers after his nine years in San Antonio.
In green and gold he is a five-time Olympian, and his 42 points against Slovenia in the Tokyo bronze medal game remain an Olympic record for a medal-round game.
