Utah Jazz: Where does Donovan Mitchell rank among guards in franchise history?

The margins between active Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell and former franchise player Deron Williams are arguably narrow. The 26.4 points per game Mitchell averaged last season trump any scoring output Williams was able to produce during his tenure in Salt Lake City. Furthermore, the Jazz’s 52-20 record from last season was a comfortably more successful season than any the club managed during Williams’ time with the organization.

Still, advanced metrics tell us that Spida still has some room to improve before we can claim that he’s in the midst of a better Jazz prime than Williams as an individual. The latter’s edge over Mitchell in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is narrow. The best mark Williams posted in that category over his Jazz career was 22.1, whereas Mitchell just wrapped up a season with a career-high 21.3 in that metric.

Williams’ more pronounced advantages come in Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) and Win Shares (WS). The 4.5 he posted in the former in 2007-08 far exceeds Mitchell’s 2.5 from last season, his highest score to date. Meanwhile, the 11.3 WS Williams posted in the same season almost double Mitchell’s career-best 6.2 from last season.

The advanced metrics correspond with popular perceptions of each man. There was, after all, a time when Utah Jazz fans could proudly say that only Chris Paul had even a case for best point guard in the NBA outside of Deron Williams. Donovan Mitchell is a rising star in this league, but he simply hasn’t done enough yet to warrant that kind of consideration.

Deron William’s fall from grace came from a notoriously precipitous peak, but that shouldn’t impact his stature in the memories of Utah Jazz fans. After all, they traded him during that peak. The fall came elsewhere. He was one of the best players in the entire NBA during his time as a Jazzman.