Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell’s NBA 2K19 rating is in

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell isn’t just moving up in the basketball world, he’s joining the ranks of the virtual elite in NBA 2K19.

It’s mid-summer, and the NBA world is on cruise control until the action picks up again in the fall. However, one sector of the basketball Twittersphere is on the verge of blowing up in a big, bad way. Specifically, the NBA 2K crowd and players looking for their ratings in the latest version of the game.

Those ratings have begun to pour in, largely thanks to 2K Sports’ social media maven Ronnie Singh. And on Wednesday, we got the digits on Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell.

In a word, Mitchell’s NBA 2K19 rating is good. Fair even, if just a bit conservative. Having said that, Jazz fans who were vocal in last season’s Rookie of the Year race may take issue with developers’ appraisal.

Let’s go with the good first. After entering his rookie campaign with a rating of 75, Mitchell now finds himself knocking on the door of the elite with an 87.

More from The J-Notes

• With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

Personally, I expected him to come in a hair closer to 90 after averaging 21-4-4 and really seizing the spotlight as a rookie, but 87 is nothing to sneeze at. The publisher is even relying on Mitchell to help sell the game; the Jazz star filmed a commercial for NBA 2K19 in Las Vegas during summer league.

Now, here’s the part where Jazz fans may get just a little bit cranky. Another of the 2017-18 campaign’s star rookies — and the one was a distant third in the two-man ROY race between Mitchell and Ben Simmons — also came in at 87. I’m talking about Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

While both players are on-track to have multi-time All-Star-level careers, I would say eye test and statistics alike would point to Mitchell as being the better player last season. As such, I would have expected Mitchell to rate higher here. Instead, the pride of Utah is deadlocked with Tatum.

Whether that’s oversight, small-market bias or a simple difference of opinion, it’s probably not going to be a popular measure of Mitchell’s talents for folks in the 801.

Stay tuned to The J-Notes throughout the summer for more info on the Jazz in NBA 2K19 as it becomes available.