Patty Mills reportedly sticking with ASVEL, Parker, despite budget cuts, closing the door on NBL return

Australian guard Patty Mills is expected to honor his commitment to LDLC ASVEL and play EuroLeague basketball next season, according to BasketNews, despite a significant budget reduction at the French club that had briefly revived talk of a homecoming with the Perth Wildcats in the NBL.

By@Julien Burke

August 3, 2026 at 11:10

Patty Mills reportedly sticking with ASVEL, Parker, despite budget cuts, closing the door on NBL return

Feb 3, 2018; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills (right) talks to Tony Parker (9) during the first half against the Utah Jazz at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Just days after his potential move to ASVEL was thrown into doubt, Patty Mills appears to be staying the course. The Australian guard has reportedly maintained his commitment to the French EuroLeague club, per BasketNews, and is expected to line up for Tony Parker’s side next season — putting an end, at least for now, to speculation about an NBL return with the Perth Wildcats.

The uncertainty began when Fox Sports Australia reported that ASVEL had undergone a dramatic budget cut — described as a reduction of around $57 million — which cast serious doubt over several signings, including Mills. That news had immediately reignited the Perth Wildcats homecoming narrative, a story with obvious appeal for Australian fans given Mills’ status as a five-time Olympian with the Boomers and one of the most decorated players in Australian basketball history.

A reunion with Parker, from San Antonio to Villeurbanne

Mills had originally agreed in principle to join ASVEL after a standout season in Spain with La Laguna Tenerife, where he averaged 18.6 points per game in the ACB and Champions League. La Laguna Tenerife officially confirmed his departure, and the French move was set to reunite him with Tony Parker — his former San Antonio Spurs teammate and now head coach of ASVEL. The two won the 2014 NBA championship together in San Antonio, part of a career that spanned 16 seasons and 1,020 games in the NBA.

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The budget-cut saga added a layer of drama to what had seemed like a straightforward transition, but BasketNews now reports that Mills is pushing ahead with his EuroLeague plans regardless of the ongoing roster uncertainty at the club.

For Perth Wildcats fans and the broader Australian basketball community, the news will sting a little. A return to the NBL for a player of Mills’ stature — a genuine Boomers icon who has never played professionally in his home country — would have been a landmark moment for the league. For now, that story will have to wait.

At 37, Mills continues to defy expectations. After 16 NBA seasons, a productive year in the ACB, and now a reported commitment to EuroLeague competition, his next chapter under Parker at ASVEL looks set to be one of the more compelling subplots of the 2025-2026 European season.