Utah Jazz stud: Donovan Mitchell
It’s a shame that Donovan Mitchell got off to an uneven start in the 2021-22 season. If he’d started the year on the pace he’s been on lately, we’d be talking about the best season of this young man’s career.
Last night was no exception. Mitchell scored 27 points while shooting 10/15 from the field. He was an unimpressive 2/7 from three-point range, but when he was so unstoppable from the other two levels of scoring, it ended up being a moot point.
Mitchell displayed a mastery of the midrange in addition to being unstoppable in creating layups. He may not have been connecting from long range, but his willingness to fire had the Clippers’ defense consistently scrambling, which aided his drives to the basket.
Mitchell contributed six assists as well, adding credence to the increasingly popular sentiment that he might, in fact, be a point guard. That’s something we’ve speculated on as well, but at this point, we’d have to advocate against fixing anything that is quite clearly not broken. Mike Conley is a solid, game managing veteran who can be highly effective in pick-and-roll or occasional isolation situations.
Donovan Mitchell is the engine of this Utah Jazz offense, no matter where he lines up. The fact that it’s the best offense in the NBA speaks volumes about how effective of an engine he’s become.