Patty Mills' career-high numbers have set him up for a huge pay rise when he hits free-agency at the end of the season, but, for the moment, he says he is concerned only with helping San Antonio win another championship.
"People ask me all the time, but there's absolutely no control from now until then, so there's nothing really to think about," Mills told ESPN Australia. "My whole focus has been on this team, what I can do to help this team get back to being that last team standing, so everything else is really beside the point.
"We'll cross that bridge at the end of the season when we come to it; but for now, there's a lot of things on the plate before then."
Mills' numbers -- he's averaging 10 points and 3.5 assists in a career-high 22 minutes per night -- and yet another increase in the NBA salary cap next season to an estimated $102 million, almost certainly ensures the Australian's next contract will surpass the four-year, $38 million deal signed by his Boomers teammate Matthew Dellavedova last year.
The Spurs will have $91 million in guaranteed contracts next season, and they will have enough room on their books to re-sign Mills at his market rate with stalwart Manu Ginobili expected to retire at season's end.
Now in his sixth season with the team, Mills says he has felt more comfortable with the team every year, and that San Antonio definitely feels like home. He says that's something he will take into consideration when weighing up his free-agent options.
"[San Antonio] has definitely been home for a number of years," Mills said. "That whole environment, that atmosphere, being able to develop my game on the floor, but then grow as a person, too. In the six seasons that I've been there I feel like I've grown as a man.
"The things that I've been able to learn from the coaches, just totally away from the basketball side of things, I don't think I would have learned anywhere else. Stuff like that, I haven't taken for granted; I've made the most of those situations. It [San Antonio] has been home. I still feel like I'm growing each game, and each season."
Just past the halfway point of the season, and with the basketball world's attention squarely focused on the Golden State Warriors and the Russell Westbrook/James Harden MVP race, the Spurs continue to do what the Spurs always do: Win games. After 43 games, San Antonio are on track for their 18th consecutive season of 50-plus wins with a 34-9 record.
The team has once again gone under the radar to own the league's second-best record, but injuries to some of their key players are starting to mount.
Center Pau Gasol had surgery last Friday and was ruled out indefinitely after fracturing the fourth metacarpal on his left hand during warm-ups in a game against Denver. Point guard Tony Parker continues to be bothered by a sprained left ankle -- he missed Saturday's game against Cleveland. Mills says the team has no choice but to "fight through" the rash of injuries.
"Obviously [we] have a couple of injuries now that we're gonna have to fight through -- as every team has to do -- but that's just part of an NBA season," Mills said.
"We're alright. We've had glimpses of how we're meant to play and it's just about stringing all those together."
Mills knows San Antonio will not be able to match the explosiveness and athleticism of the Warriors juggernaut, but he believes the team is starting to jell at the right time of the season, and what they lack in athleticism, they make up for with their basketball nous.
"We're at a stage right now where we're starting to understand each other a lot better than the beginning of the season," Mills said. "Really understanding what needs to be done to be able to be the last team standing, and that's something hard to do on the fly, but what we've been able to do this first half of the season is ... we know what to do, we just need to have more fire and more hunger to be able to be consistent at that."