IT’S safe to say the past 12 months haven’t been what the San Antonio Spurs are typically used to.

From a success standpoint, there was a clear downfall — Gregg Popovich’s team won less than 50 games for the first time in 19 years — but it was the lack of stability, from a personnel perspective, that led to unexpected drama and uncharacteristic volatility.

For the Spurs’ Australian point guard, Patty Mills, the team had a different look, compared to the championship-calibre group he’d been a part of for so many years.

“There were a lot of strange and different things we had to overcome this year,” Mills told foxsports.com.au. “That has been different for me.”

Friday September 25th

The shaky season stemmed from a quad injury suffered by superstar wing, Kawhi Leonard, and its inability to heal properly over the course of the season. That was the catalyst for a rift between Leonard and the team’s front office — a feud Mills didn’t know what “(his team) could’ve done to help.” — which snowballed into one of the Spurs’ worst seasons in recent memory.

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The Spurs were forced to play around with lineups they weren’t used to, Tony Parker’s injury and decline led to extended minutes for others, while the rise of Dejounte Murray meant rising star getting more repetitions in at the point. That, naturally, led to Mills playing off the ball more than he’s accustomed to.

It was an adjustment for Mills, and his numbers were affected when the change was first implemented, but he was proud of his ability to eventually adapt to playing primarily at the two-spot.

“The positive factor, for me, was seeing it as a way of being agile, or being that person that can adapt on the fly,” Mills said.

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“It’s not easy at all. You make do with that, and really do what’s best for the team. For me, I’m a point guard, and love being a general on the floor, and run the team, but the team was better if I moved. I understood that, I accepted it, and I just tried to be as effective on both ends of the floor as I could.

“The thing that doesn’t change, throughout all those adjustments, was my leadership; what I’m able to bring to the San Antonio Spurs from a leadership point of view, and understanding who was there before me, and who’s beside me in Manu.

“There’s a trend there you have to continue on, and obviously that starts with Pop, and Tim Duncan, and David Robinson.”

For the first time in his career, Mills played all 82 games, while averaging a career-high of 25.7 minutes a game.

Mills shoots a free throw at a camp in NSW. Source: Supplied

Patty Mills overlooks campers. Source: Supplied

The Spurs are known for being in a position where players are able to rest, but their postseason was only secured in the dying days of the regular season, so the 29-year-old Mills had to be out on the court.

While Mills says his body handled the extra mileage just fine, he’s also in the midst of what he called a ‘legit off-season’, making the most of an extended period of time to rest, recover, then begin working out.

Part of Mills’ off-season was being the Australian face and ambassador for Under Armour, continuing his trend of giving back to the youth of his home country.

“That’s where it all starts, obviously,” Mills said of giving back to children in Australia, prior to a June Under Armour event, where he joined a training session for some of NSW’s best young basketball players.

“I was in this position, once upon a time, and I understood what it was to have role models. For me, now, to be in that position, you’ve gotta give back, because this is where it’s at. We have to set an example, and a good example, for these kids to follow.

“To come back and really stand in front of kids — last year was good with the books, and kids now have a hard copy they can keep referring back to if they like — and to join Under Armour in this sort of environment, where you’ve got them as a powerhouse to come in and back myself in front of kids in a clinic, and stand in front of them so they can see you.

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“At the very least, it gives them hope that they can dream big and their dreams can come true.”

Entering the 2018-19 season — what will be his seventh with the Spurs — Mills’ team will have a completely different look.

Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors, for DeMar DeRozan, while Danny Green was also dealt. Parker signed with the Charlotte Hornets, and the Spurs added Marco Belinelli and Lonnie Walker.

All signs are pointing to Mills returning to his sixth man role, as the Spurs’ first point guard off the bench, and, in all likelihood, another season bound for volatility. Still, the native of Canberra isn’t letting the potential for more unrest affect the way he prepares for his 10th season in the NBA.

“The stuff I’ve really focused on working on doesn’t have anything to do with that because, again, we don’t know what’s gonna happen next year,” Mills said.

“You’d be foolish to work on something, then something changes, and whatever happens, happens.

“For me, I’ve got my own personal things I work on in the off-season.”

But, before getting back into the grind of preparing for an NBA season, Mills’ goal continues to be to give back to different communities across Australia, and don’t expect that trend to stop.

“Every year, it gets better,” Mills said. “I love every bit of it.”

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Olgun Uluc covers basketball for Fox Sports Australia. Twitter: @OlgunUluc