Donovan Mitchell’s sophomore year
There’s really no debating it. The best part of last season was the meteoric rise of Donovan Mitchell. He blew absolutely everyone away, Jazz fans included, with his stellar play and incredible transition into the NBA. Not only did he lead all rookies in scoring, but he led his entire Jazz team in scoring as well en route to becoming the Rookie of the Year runner-up.
And the best part about all that was that, in spite of all the great things he did, Donovan showed that he still has room for improvement. His best is yet to come. And with a full offseason of workouts with the legendary Jazz development staff, I predict that we’ll see an even better version of Donovan next year.
2017 #NBASummer sensation Donovan Mitchell stops by the booth. pic.twitter.com/zx5e3L4F78
— NBA (@NBA) July 7, 2018
In some ways, that’s hard to fathom. But to think that he’ll plateau during his rookie year is absolute foolishness. Mitchell is only 21 years old and seeing how he comes back one year removed from his Rookie of the Year snub is going to be fascinating to behold.
If he can get a little more efficient, improve his decision-making and build on some of his strengths such as finishing at the rim and perimeter defense, he’s going to be a monster. Or perhaps better put, even MORE of a monster than he already was. He was great in 2017-18, but thinking about his improvement and what he’s going to be in 2018-19 makes me giddy with delight.