Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell already touting Grayson Allen for Rookie of the Year

The 2018-19 season is young, but Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell is already expressing firm belief and confidence in rookie teammate Grayson Allen.

Although the Utah Jazz have had their ups and downs during the 2018 NBA Preseason, they still have a perfect 4-0 record. That record has come largely thanks to solid play from their bench unit that has allowed them to come back late in games and steal victories.

One player among that reserve group who has particularly stood out has been Grayson Allen. Although Utah’s polarizing draft pick was questioned by some, he’s certainly shown so far that he could very well turn out to be a talented addition to this Jazz squad.

In four preseason games thus far, Allen is averaging 12.3 points per contest in less than 20 minutes per game. In those minutes, he’s converting on 50 percent of his field goal attempts and 52.4 percent of his 3-pointers on over five attempts per game. Those are great marks.

He’s had his share of rookie mistakes and has a lot to learn about defending properly in the NBA, but up to this point, he’s been surprisingly effective. Fortunately for Grayson, not only does he have a solid personal work ethic, but he’s in one of the programs that most excels at developing players, and has a coaching staff and teammates that believe in him one hundred percent.

Perhaps no one exhibits that belief more effectively than Grayson’s teammate Donovan Mitchell, who’s just one year removed from being a rookie himself. Mitchell has had Allen’s back all the way. He was visually elated when the Jazz selected Allen on draft night, greeting him with a huge hug. He praised him both before and during training camp, constantly stating how good he looked and how incredible he could be.

In Utah’s latest preseason win on Sunday that just so happened to take place the day before Grayson Allen’s birthday, the Jazz rookie played well and was one of the key contributors to the comeback victory. Though it wasn’t his highest scoring output (he had just eight points), he went a solid 3-of-5 from the field, while logging four assists and turning in an incredible plus/minus of plus-25.

His efforts in that game came at the perfect time as he helped vault Utah back in front for good.

The next day following the contest, in honor of Grayson’s birthday, Donovan Mitchell posted the following shout-out to his teammate on Twitter–

Mitchell has been relentless in speaking about Allen’s potential and the ‘big things’ that figure to be in store for the sharpshooter this year and beyond. But in this post, Mitchell upped the ante on his confidence in the Jazz newcomer by leaving a #ROY at the end of the post, meaning Rookie of the Year.

We all know how the Rookie of the Year contest went last year, with Donovan Mitchell finishing as runner-up to controversial winner Ben Simmons. He’s obviously left that in the past, though, and is simply excited to pull for his new teammate to compete for the award.

Honestly, Allen is facing some extremely high competition for the nod, and I think he’ll be hard-pressed to win Rookie of the Year. Considering that stellar players such as Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Trae Young all have opportunities to shine on lesser teams that provide greater opportunity, it’s going to be tough for Allen to surpass them.

https://twitter.com/HoHighlights/status/1046458574958989312

Even if Allen were more talented than those and other rookies, which depending on the case he may or may not be, the fact that his opportunity will be so limited by the depth of the Jazz is going to make it hard for him to even be in the Rookie of the Year conversation when all is said and done. It’s quite possible that the likes of Royce O’Neale and Alec Burks will make just cracking into the rotation a challenge for Allen.

Nevertheless, it’s still cool to see Donovan Mitchell showing so much belief in the former Duke product. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been pleased with Allen’s play thus far, and am starting to believe that Mitchell is on to something here. Allen could very well be destined for greatness and a solid NBA career.

That said, the Rookie of the Year award is probably a bit of a stretch. Allen looks great so far in the early bouts of preseason, but he was a late first-rounder for a reason and I wouldn’t expect him to be a serious ROY contender.

Nevertheless, if he maintains his gritty style and his hot hand from deep, he may very well turn out to be just what the Jazz need this year. And while Rookie of the Year, as Donovan Mitchell hopes he will be, might be out of the question, I’m confident that it’s entirely possible that Grayson could turn out better than many suspect, and much more impactful than several players taken before him in the draft.

He has a lot yet to prove once the regular season gets underway, but the chemistry between he and Mitchell and the confidence that the young star is instilling in him is great to see. And I’m certain it will go a long way in helping Grayson become the NBA talent he’s capable of developing into, be it right off the bat this year as a ROY competitor or simply later down the road.