Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell has put himself in 2020 Olympic mix

Fans may be down on the World Cup performance of Team USA, but Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell could end up an Olympian thanks to his individual efforts.

In spite of his awesome talent and humble nature, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell often finds himself the target of a small, but vocal contingent of detractors on NBA Twitter. The brunt of them come from Philly and/or Boston (and it’s not hard to figure out why), and, man, have they have been busy lately with Mitchell and Team USA struggling to a seventh-place finish at the FIBA World Cup.

Their chirping aside, though, Mitchell had a really strong run overall in the tournament. Over eight games (all starts) he put up 13 points, five assists, four boards and one steal per contest. He also shot the ball at a healthy clip, connecting on 47 percent of his shots and 41 percent from 3-point range.

In his 217 minutes on the floor, the Americans outscored the opposition by 96 points.

He played so well, in fact, and was such a strong representative for USA Basketball on and off the floor that he may have put himself in position to snag a spot on the 2020 US Olympic team.

It’s a notion that would have seemed incredibly unlikely just a few, short months ago, but the Jazz star has seemingly inserted himself into the conversation over the last several weeks. At the least, it looks like he’s impressing the right people. Namely, USA Basketball’s director Jerry Colangelo.

SI’s Chris Mannix spoke with Colangelo about the state of USA Basketball this week and, to put it mildly, he’s not content to register a similar result at next year’s Olympics in Tokyo. And while sending a more talented team to the Games will be crucial to that success, the former Phoenix Suns owner may not be turning over the entire team.

In fact, Mitchell looks to be on the possible shortlist of players who have a leg up for roster spots.

Writes Mannix —

"He has a deep appreciation for the players that committed to play in the World Cup, suggesting that there were “2-3 players” who likely punched their tickets to Tokyo. Kemba Walker, Team USA’s leading scorer, is probably one. Donovan Mitchell, who singlehandedly kept the U.S. team in the game against France, is another. Colangelo also went out of his way to praise Marcus Smart, a defensive menace who can guard multiple positions."

That report would seem to indicate that Mitchell is a real possibility for next summer. And while much of the American focus for the World Cup was on who didn’t show up, Mitchell was showing up for his country in a big, bad way (Twitter trolls be damned).

Team USA needs players of his production (and dedication) if they want to climb back to the tap of the mountain next year.