Since declaring for the NBA draft last month, Saint Mary's College point guard Patrick Mills has put sleep on the back burner, hitting the gym at 6:30 a.m. to sharpen his shooting skills and improve his conditioning. It's a solitary mission but one that might bring him closer to his lifelong goal of playing at the next level.
Mills said, "The process is only going to get harder, but to know what the goal is in front of you is rewarding. Every day is getting tougher because you know you have to be better than you are the previous day. At the moment, I'm on my own."
Mills, a sophomore, said he's learning "on the fly." Everything about the process is new.
He's set to attend the NBA Pre-Draft Combine, which begins May 27 in Chicago. It's his first chance to gauge teams' interest and begin plotting his next move.
A member of the 2008 Australian Olympic team, Mills has every reason to want to take his time. After all, only players selected in the first round receive guaranteed contracts, and the point guard pool in this year's draft is extremely deep. North Carolina's Ty Lawson, teenager Brandon Jennings and Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio are among those challenging Mills for a spot in the first round.
Still, several online mock drafts peg Mills as a legitimate first-round option. NBAdraft.net has Mills going to New Orleans as the No. 21 overall pick. ESPN.com lists him as the No. 23 selection. Mills, though, takes little solace in that.
"I try to stay away from that," Mills said. "They're only projections; they don't mean anything. At this point, I'm a bit of an underdog. I'm going into it with that mentality, but I have a lot to gain."
