Compare this dude to Jerryd Bayless for a sec -
Just my humble opinion -- both are offensive point guards only Bayless can do even more -- he's bigger (6'3" compared to 6'), stronger, more athletic, and even though Mills is a good offensive player, Bayless can do even more on that end of the floor. And Mills is out with the shoulder issue with a significant 6 month recovery period, so there's that to consider now as well..
Both Bayless & Mills are young/around the same age, I just feel Bayless has a vast amount of untapped potential, more than Mills. To me he's the better buy provided we recognized the ridiculous amount of potential and were willing to give this kid a chance to fulfill it & run the team. That's what it would take to make this idea work...The reward far outweighs any risk here -- like I said the other day, if he didn't blow up like I'd expect, we'd still have a young, competent rotation combo guard at a good price that could always be moved later, plus he'd have Calderon and Shane Larkin around to take over if he couldn't handle it...Thing is I think he definitely could handle it and actually thrive here in a larger role.. If he did take off, we're talking the next star player in the NBA.. He certainly has the confidence and enough talent for it...Think about Kyle Lowry and how his game took off once he was finally given more responsibility. That dude was not much more than a glorified backup PG until last year...Having a team give you that kind of responsibility can do wonders for certain guys. It did for Lowry and I think it could for this guy too...I could picture a very similar elevated production with Bayless with increased mins and responsibility, only on an even bigger scale compared to Lowry. I feel Bayless is flat out more talented than Lowry.
To me, you get this kid Bayless and give him the keys -- starting PG, over 30 mins a night and let him do his thing. No NBA team has given him that yet. He had that in college and was a flat out stud, even as a freshman...If he gets too trigger happy (the only perceived "flaw" I can really see), Fisher/Phil sit him down, go over the big picture, the importance of sharing the ball with his teammates, and reign him in a little...but not too much because I love his aggressiveness and ability to score the ball. I'd want this kid to get his share of shots up every night, just like I'd expect Patty Mills to take his share of shots. Bottom line for me here -- Jerryd Bayless > Patty Mills, and again I LOVE MILLS. I'd love to see Phil show some guts and take a chance here -- let's try to grab this kid and duplicate what Toronto did with Lowry last yr.. Bayless is more than capable. I'd love to see us roll the dice here on a talent like this that we could probably get at a discounted price..