Mitchell is human – and struggling to take a leap in Year 2
Who knew? Donovan Mitchell is human after all! After his incredible performances in last year’s playoffs, it might have been hard to believe as much, but he’s reminded us of his mortality in a big way.
His numbers are pretty much down across the board. He’s averaging less points (20.5 to 20.1) on a worse shooting percentage (43.7 percent to 40.7 percent) while heaving even more attempts than a season ago (17.2 to 18.4). His free throw percentage has taken a dip as well from 80.5 percent to 79.1 percent, and his 3-point percentage has been nothing short of catastrophic as he’s plummeted from 34 percent to 29.1 percent.
In other words, the big breakout we all hoped to see in his second season has instead looked much more like a sophomore slump. We’re 38 games in and, to be honest, Donovan Mitchell’s All-Star case as a rookie was much stronger than it is this year.
Part of the issue has to do with Utah’s lack of spacing in the starting lineup and lack of offensive creators, leaving Mitchell with an immense load that’s unfair to expect him to tackle alone. The other part, though, is on him. His shot selection, decision making and even finishing at the rim have been significantly worse than last season. His over-reliance on settling for 3-point shots has been detrimental to his own shooting numbers and to the team.
In other words, Mitchell hasn’t lived up to expectations this year, and that’s a major reason why the Jazz are where they’re at.
Now, before any of my readers get the wrong idea, let me also mention this – I completely understand that Mitchell is a second-year player and deserves the chance for patience and growth. He’s still a tremendous player and he shouldn’t be viewed as anything different! But I think at this point we can all recognize that perhaps the expectations were too high and the hope for his improvement was a bit unrealistic.
Donovan Mitchell can still be a star in this league and is well on his way to becoming one. But it’s looking like a hard truth that the second year of his path to stardom is going to be quite a bit bumpier than we all originally expected.