Utah Jazz: Ranking Donovan Mitchell among top shooting guards in 2021-22
Chicago Bulls guard Zach Lavine
Zach Lavine was not supposed to be here. He entered the NBA as an unpolished leaper. He could hardly shoot, was a below average dribbler, and generally lacked fundamentals. Multiple dunk contest trophies were supposed to be in his immediate future: superstar production at the NBA level was not.
Apparently, Lavine didn’t get the memo. His 25.9 points per game and 59.9 TS% both topped these rankings comfortably.
Arguably, Lavine is benefitting from a career season from teammate DeMar DeRozan. He’s averaging 26.3 points per game while shooting 49.0% from the field and an uncharacteristically acceptable 35.6% from three-point range. With these two dynamic on-ball weapons sharing the floor, opposing teammates are forced to pick their poison, and both options are lethal.
Once again: all 5 of these players are employed by NBA teams. They all have talented teammates. Anthony Edwards plays alongside Karl-Anthony Towns: that doesn’t exactly sound like a heliocentric offense.
There’s no taking away from Zach Lavine’s remarkable 2021-22 season. He’s leading all shooting guards in points per game, and he’s shooting more efficiently than any of the other 4 in the top 5. He’s been the best pure off-guard in the NBA in 2021-22 to-date.
Next. Do the Utah Jazz have a Jordan Clarkson problem?. dark
Zach Lavine’s placement over Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell in these rankings should not bother Jazz fans. They’re comparable players. If Mitchell starts knocking down threes with more consistency, we may be forced to revisit these rankings by the season’s end.