Utah Jazz: 2017 NBA Draft grades

No. 13 — Donovan Mitchell

In the midst of a night with many deals being made, the Jazz threw their hat into the ring when they packaged their No. 24 pick and Trey Lyles to move up to the 13th selection, which had belonged to the Denver Nuggets.

With that pick, they got University of Louisville combo guard Donovan Mitchell, a sophomore who averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals on some decent shooting splits, including a 35 percent clip from behind the arc.

Standing 6’3″ with a tremendous 6’10” wingspan, he has excellent physical tools to be an impact defender at the next level and the skill to execute on the offensive end.

His athleticism jumps off the page immediately, as he posted the best standing vertical jump and three-quarter court sprint times at the combine. He’ll be a threat in transition to whatever capacity the Jazz push the pace, and he should be able to finish some backdoor lobs in the halfcourt.

Mitchell seems like a great fit for the culture Utah is building both on court and off, as he praised the Jazz organization after his pre-draft workout earlier this month, lauding the team’s camaraderie and makeup.

The Jazz likely hope that Mitchell can become a point guard to replace George Hill down the road, since the veteran will be a rather high-priced free agent this summer.

Of course, he could also benefit from having a top-tier tutor to teach him the finer points of playing guard in the NBA, as Draft Express lays out.

"“Surrounding Mitchell with several players who think the game at a high level, namely a high IQ point guard to learn from, should help him improve his decision making, while still being able to focus on the things that can make him impactful early on in his career.”"

At the very least, he should be able to knock down open shots and plug himself into the Jazz’s defensive schemes at both of the guard positions.

The main negatives surrounding his prospect status concerned his shot selection and dribble-penetrating ability, at least in isolation. Playing in the Jazz offense should help to rectify both these drawbacks, as he’ll have plenty of skilled teammates to defer to that can help him run the offense.

As far as who they gave up, the Jazz should consider themselves lucky that it cost them only Trey Lyles to move up 11 spots. Although Lyles is still young and capable of improving, he stagnated in a major way last year, falling almost completely out of the rotation by the time the playoffs rolled around.

Mitchell was reportedly one of the Jazz’s top-three targets to trade up for, and given his fit, attitude and the cost of acquiring him, this looks like a windfall deal for the Jazz.

Grade: A