Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell
We already mentioned that Spida is having a marginally down year in terms of both volume and efficiency. In all reality, he set a bar so high in 2020-21 that he’s been able to afford to lower it and still turn in a sensational season to-date.
His 24.4 points per game and 54.3 TS% both ranked second on this list (although the latter figure was tied with Devin Booker). In other words, Utah Jazz fans have been treated to effectively the same Donovan Mitchell they’ve come to know and love.
He is the engine of a Utah Jazz team that ranks second in the NBA in Offensive Rating at115.03. The fact that Mitchell is able to score 24.4 points per game on a team that features Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Bojan Bogdanovic is all the more impressive. This offense runs deep, but there’s no question about who sits atop of it.
Mitchell’s combination of speed and balance makes it virtually impossible to stop him from getting to the basket. Unfortunately, his three-point efficiency has fallen off a cliff this season. He’s shooting 32.2% on 9.5 attempts per contest. Last season, he shot a considerably more impressive 38.6% on 8.2 attempts per game.
All it would take for Mitchell to climb to the top of these rankings would be to bump his three-point efficiency back up to last year’s standard. His decline from an above-average three-point shooter to a below-average one is significant.
Utah Jazz fans can only hope that it’s not permanent.