Donovan Mitchell: Utah Jazz Season In Review

Apr 22, 2020, 4:38 PM | Updated: Apr 24, 2020, 3:37 pm

Donovan Mitchell - Los Angeles Clippers - Utah Jazz...

Utah Jazz Guard Donovan Mitchell (45) looks on during a NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers on November 3, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

BY BEN ANDERSON, KSL SPORTS

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA is in a standstill as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that has sidelined professional sports across the globe. With 18 games left to play in the regular season for the Utah Jazz, and a date with the postseason on the line, it’s unclear when or if the season will return.

With game action in a holding pattern, it’s an ideal time to look at each player on the Jazz roster and how they have performed this season. Have they exceeded or failed to meet expectations, have they improved their game, remained steady, or seen a decrease in their level of play. Finally, how will they impact the team when games return, whether that’s to finish the 2019-20 season, or to begin the 2020-21 season.

The order of player evaluations will be done by jersey number, starting with the team’s lowest, and working to the team’s highest number.

Donovan Mitchell – 45 – Guard

Stats: 24.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.2 apg: .453/.364/.859

Before the season began, despite several major offseason additions, a common refrain about the Jazz was they could only go as far as Donovan Mitchell could carry them. Though the roster had been built to compete for a championship, the development of Mitchell into a true superstar was going to be the key to the team’s success this season.

.@spidadmitchell started this beautiful blender and ended it with a wide open 3 against the Magic on Dec. 17.#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/Dhghivjpko

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 30, 2020

To be frank, those expectations were likely too steep to place on the third-year guard. After all, even the NBA’s best players over the last 20 years haven’t been asked to carry their team to a championship in just their third season. Even LeBron James needed four years before he first carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Finals.

With the season sidelined, it may be impossible to tell how far Mitchell could have propelled the Jazz, but through 64 games this season, the team was positioned to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. As it stands, the Jazz sit just three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the second seed in the West with 18 games left to play in the regular season.

Examining Mitchell’s individual season more closely, it’s clear the guard took another step forward in his stellar young career. Mitchell has raised his scoring average above 24 points per game, a career-high, while also setting career marks in rebounds, assists, and scoring efficiency.

As a reward, Mitchell was named to his first All-Star game in January as a reserve, elected by the NBA’s coaches to represent the West.

🕷 x #NBAAllStar @spidadmitchell’s first All-Star points.#GoCards pic.twitter.com/pqn1Daj3lR

— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) February 17, 2020

Despite occasional bouts with inefficiency scoring the ball, Mitchell still ranks as the 14th highest scoring the NBA, managing to improve his average from last season even with the additions of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic to the roster.

Defensively, Mitchell has seen his defensive real plus-minus rating drop for a second consecutive season. The Jazz guard ranks 188th in the NBA among 503 players with an -.03 rating, which reflects the trend of the team’s ranking overall which has slipped from first in the NBA in 2018, to second in 2019, down to 11th this season.

Though Mitchell hasn’t yet developed into the stellar perimeter defender it seemed he could become from his time at Louisville, he’s not the defensive liability some of the league’s other premier young wing scorers have shown to be.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Mitchell’s season has been his public feud with teammate Rudy Gobert after the duo tested positive for COVID-19. Mitchell was reportedly frustrated with Gobert’s cavalier attitude towards the dangers of the disease before the two tested positive, and allowed rumors about the fractured relationship to run rampant while he remained silent on the issue.

Rudy Gobert with Taylor Rooks speaking about mending his relationship with Donovan Mitchell. (🎥: _jwager8) pic.twitter.com/ogEgSUW6Tq

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 13, 2020

Though the issue raises questions about the future construction of the team, it seems both players are committed to returning to the floor together in an effort to win a championship.

Mitchell is under contract with the Jazz through next season and it’s widely expected that the guard will sign a max contract extension with the team this summer. The guard will remain on his rookie contract next season earning a paltry $5.2 million compared to his production. This allows the Jazz to fortify the roster with higher-priced players until Mitchell’s next contract kicks in. At that point, Mitchell will be asked to carry an even larger load of the offense as the roster is filled out with lower-cost players.

Regardless of Mitchell’s looming pay raise, he should easily outearn his contract at his current level of production.

Though Mitchell may have seen only a modest jump in his averages this season, they’re still progressing in the direction the franchise had hoped for, while the team’s winning percentage made a sharp leap.

In addition to making his first All-Star appearance, Mithell may soon find himself on the US Olympic team for the now postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, further establishing himself as one of the premier young players in the NBA, and one worth building around for the Jazz.