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Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell wins Rookie of the Month for December

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 3: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz stands for the National Anthem before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 3, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 3: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz stands for the National Anthem before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 3, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell was recognized as the NBA’s Rookie of the Month for December thanks to several electrifying performances.

You’d have to be crazy if you didn’t see this coming, but on Thursday it was officially announced that Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell has been selected as the Rookie of the Month for December 2017. This comes as little surprise considering that, despite Utah’s struggles as a team during a brutal stretch of schedule, Mitchell was absolutely electrifying all month long.

To be frank, he looked far from a rookie and much more like a savvy veteran as he averaged 23.1 points on 50.7 percent shooting from the field and 35.8 percent from deep while also adding 3.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals. Mitchell led all rookies in scoring and steals during December while his field goal percentage and assists were the third and fourth best, respectively, among Western Conference rookies.

In short, he was absolutely deserving of the award. He was every bit Utah’s best player during the month and even furthered his All-Star case, an award that hasn’t been won by a rookie since Blake Griffin did it in 2011.

Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg for Mitchell and January will be an even better month for him as the Jazz face slightly easier competition albeit with a rather heavy road slate. He’s been exhilarating up to this point and if he continues to rack up Rookie of the Month Awards for the remainder of the season, he may even be able to shock the world and nab the even greater recognition – Rookie of the Year.

A few of Mitchell’s Utah Jazz teammates, including Thabo Sefolosha and Joe Ingles as shown below, were quick to give him praise for receiving the award. Despite all the hype and praise that Donovan has received while in a Jazz uniform, it’s been great to see his more experienced teammates rally around him rather than become embittered in any fashion.

Mitchell’s Rookie of the Month counterpart in the Eastern Conference for the month of December was the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum. Despite not faring quite as well as Mitchell, he still had a solid month as he posted 14.6 points on an extremely efficient 52.9 percent shooting from the field and 45.1 percent from deep to go along with 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

Both are incredible young talents that figure to make noise in the NBA for years to come.

Next: Utah Jazz: Is Quin Snyder a terrible coach?

Donovan Mitchell will continue to further his Rookie of the Year and All-Star case when the Utah Jazz return to action on Friday against the Denver Nuggets at 7:00 PM MT.

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