Utah Jazz fans know they’ve got a top tier bucket-getter in Donovan Mitchell. While both his volume (26.4 to 24.0 points per game) and efficiency (56.9 to 54.3 True Shooting %) have both taken a dip this season, 24.0 points per game on a 54.3 True Shooting % (TS%) remains nothing to sneeze at. There’s no question that Mitchell is an elite scoring guard. The question is, how elite is he in comparison to his peers?
The rubric in this exercise is not complicated. We found the top 5 shooting guards in the NBA in points per game, ranked them according to TS%, and then took the average between those two placements to come up with a final ranking.
Readers could criticize these rudimentary criteria. After all, isn’t it advantageous to have a shooting guard with added passing ability? Shouldn’t defense be a factor? Does anybody care about rebounds per game in 2021?
All fair questions, however, the name of each of these players’ games is scoring. None of the five top scoring 2-guards have a particular reputation for either passing or defense. The two most important questions to ask about the following players are: how often do they score, and how efficiently do they do it?
We’ll add a caveat that James Harden, probably the most reputable NBA player who anyone could call a shooting guard, was excluded from these rankings. His statistical profile closely resembles that of a point guard’s this season, and he is listed as a SG/PG on Basketball Reference. In short, we consider him a point guard (particularly in Kyrie Irving’s absence).
Having established that, here’s where Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell ranks among the league’s top shooting guards in 2021-22 so far.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards
In a tie for fifth place in these rankings, we have a sophomore on the upswing and a veteran in the midst of a somewhat down year.
Edwards’ 22.2 points per game ranked fifth out of all five players listed in this article. However, despite a reputation for inefficiency, his 53.5 TS% actually ranked third.
The recent number one overall pick could stand to improve his three-point efficiency, but his 35.6% accuracy does (barely) justify the 8.8 attempts he’s launching per contest. On the other hand, he’s already established himself as one of the best inside scorers among NBA guards. His combination of speed, strength and vertical leap make him an absolute terror as a primary ball handler.
If he can tick that three-point percentage up a few notches in the coming years, the rest of the NBA will need to take notice. He’ll be likely to occupy the number-one spot in this list.
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal
Washington Wizards fans are probably not upset about Beal’s decreased production this season: at 11-6, they’ve been the Cinderella story of 2021-22.
Beal’s decreased production is probably a consequence of new head coach Wes Unseld Jr.’s egalitarian offensive system, as well as the Wizards’ newfound depth. It’s worth noting that Beal is averaging a career-best 6.1 assists per game, up from 4.4 last season. However, his scoring has taken a significant dive, from 31.3 points per game last season all the way down to 23.3.
Such a decreased volume would ideally be accompanied by increased efficiency, but that hasn’t been the case for Beal. His 51.8 TS% is significantly lower than last season’s 59.3%. All told, Beal has slipped from one of the most impressive offensive players in the NBA to something closer to an average All-Star.
As long as that shift continues to generate wins, Washington Wizards fans won’t complain. Heading into the 2021-22 season, nobody would have predicted them to have the same record as the Utah Jazz this far into the season. That’s probably worth every lost point per game to both Beal and his fans alike.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker
Devin Booker and Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell inevitably invite comparison. They’re both 25. They’re both preternaturally gifted scorers who play the same position in the NBA. It is generally unclear which is better, and that’s exactly what begs comparison between them.
As far as 2021-22 is concerned, however, Mitchell has got his counterparts’ number.
That’s not to say that Booker isn’t authoring another impressive season in his own right. His 22.4 points per game ranked fourth among the guards in this exercise, and his 54.3 TS% ranked second. It’s also worth noting that he shares the floor with the apparently immortal Chris Paul. The Point God is busy leading the NBA in assists per game at 10.3. Obviously, he takes the ball out of Booker’s hands on occasion.
That simply doesn’t factor into our equation here. Mitchell is also required to share the ball within the confines of a considerably deeper (and less top-heavy) Utah Jazz offense. Booker is having a good year: Mitchell is simply having a better one.
Interestingly enough, Booker’s three-point efficiency (38.5% on 6.1 attempts per game) has hit a new high, while his overall field goal percentage has suffered (43.7%, down from 48.4% last season). It’s hard to make any meaningful conclusions about that trend, but it is worth monitoring as the season progresses.
In terms of the eye test, Booker is a purist’s dream on the floor. He’s a three-level scorer with beautiful shot mechanics and a smooth handle. Phoenix Suns fans probably won’t mourn his placement below his Utah Jazz rival, with their team sitting 14-3 and fresh off of an NBA Finals appearance.
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.
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.
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.