NBA Rumors: Patty Mills Waived by Hawks; Trent Forrest to Have Contract Converted

The Atlanta Hawks are set to waive 35-year-old veteran guard Patty Mills on Thursday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

Charania also reported that the Hawks plan to convert guard Trent Forrest's two-way contract into a standard deal, thus filling the roster spot created by waiving Mills.

Mills is in the midst of his 15th NBA season, having previously played for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets.

The Aussie played sparingly this season for a Hawks team on the fringes of playoff contention in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

Appearing in 19 games, Mills averaged 2.7 points in 10.6 minutes per contest, both of which represent his lowest output since his rookie year with the Blazers in 2009-10.

Mills also shot a career-low 37.1 percent from the field, but his 38.2 percent shooting from three-point range is in line with his career mark of 38.9 percent.

He is best known for his 10-year run with the Spurs, during which he appeared in 665 regular-season games and 85 playoff contests, and won an NBA championship in 2014.

Mills averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 assists and 1.8 three-pointers made per game with San Antonio, primarily as a bench player.

He was also productive in his first season with the Nets in 2021-22, averaging 11.4 points, 2.3 assists and a career-high 2.8 three-pointers made per game.

His numbers dropped off significantly last season to the tune of 6.2 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 three-pointers made per game, and he bottomed out even more this season with the Hawks.

Despite his pedestrian stats, Mills could be a nice fit for a contending team, as he could provide leadership, experience and three-point shooting ability off the bench.

As for the Hawks, it makes more sense for them to give playing time to the 25-year-old Forrest over Mills, especially since they are unlikely to make much noise in the playoffs even if they are able to reach the postseason play-in tournament and advance.

Forrest spent his first two seasons with the Utah Jazz and has been in Atlanta the past two seasons after starring collegiately at Florida State.

He has played sparingly in the NBA this season, averaging 2.0 points, 2.1 assists and 1.3 three rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game over 20 appearances.

However, since superstar guard Trae Young is expected to miss at least a month after undergoing surgery on his finger, there could be far more opportunities available to Forrest in the coming weeks.