Patty Mills will make a $16 million NBA move to join the star-studded Brooklyn Nets after agreeing to a potential championship-winning deal and finalising his future in the world's best competition.
Mills is leading Australia's bid to win its first international medal, top-scoring in a 97-58 quarter-final win against Argentina on Tuesday night to give the Boomers a double shot at an Olympic Games podium finish in Tokyo.
The good news kept coming for the Canberra junior, with details of a new contract with the Nets emerging overnight.
Mills has been raising eyebrows in Tokyo with his sublime scoring form, averaging more than 20 points per game and launching himself on to the radar of several franchises, including the Nets and the LA Lakers.
He was targeted by several teams in free-agency given the depth he adds to the bench, and the Nets swooped to add him to their roster.
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Mills has signed a two-year deal worth more than $A16m ($US12m) to link with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden in Brooklyn for what looms as a perfect opportunity to win a second NBA title.
Mills and the Boomers will go head to head with Durant and Team USA in the Olympic semi-final on Thursday afternoon, with the winner to advance to the gold-medal match.
The loser will play for bronze, with the Boomers getting a double-shot to win a breakthrough medal.
ESPN first reported Mills' NBA move, which has since been confirmed as he looks to extend his NBA career into a 13th and 14th season.
"My mindset is with my country and this team, my heart is with my country," he said, shortly before the deal was announced, of how he deals with the distraction.
"We're on a mission here and we always talk about having no distractions ... we're in the trenches together and not going to let anything come in the way of that."
He was also quick to remind his Boomers teammates they "hadn't done shit yet" after dominating Argentina and heading to the semi-finals.
But Mills remembers a 90-64 defeat of Lithuania in the corresponding game five years ago in Rio, which came before they were eventually denied bronze in a gutting one-point loss to Spain.
They've finished fourth in similarly brutal circumstances at a World Cup since.
Mills scored a game-high 18 points against Argentina, and he is now averaging 20 points per game in another stellar Olympic campaign.
Chris Dutton
Chris Dutton has been a sport journalist since 2008, covering rugby union, rugby league, basketball, cricket and soccer. He has covered World Cups and Olympic Games in print and online. Chris has had a stint as news director, but is back in sport to follow the ups and downs. Email: chris.dutton@canberratimes.com.au
Chris Dutton has been a sport journalist since 2008, covering rugby union, rugby league, basketball, cricket and soccer. He has covered World Cups and Olympic Games in print and online. Chris has had a stint as news director, but is back in sport to follow the ups and downs. Email: chris.dutton@canberratimes.com.au
