Breaking down the 5 best contenders for NBA Rookie of the Year
By Max Holm
5. Donovan Mitchell – Utah Jazz
Maybe many of you expected De’Aaron Fox to be in the top-five, so let’s address that quickly. Fox absolutely should be given the keys, but with George Hill coming in and management committed to Buddy Hield, he may not see as many minutes right away.
That leaves room for Donovan Mitchell to have one of the best seasons in this class. Utah will look for Ricky Rubio and Rodney Hood to have big roles, but they’re still missing Gordon Hayward. They need productivity and if Mitchell hits the ground running, the Jazz will have no choice but to play him a lot.
Utah should have a winning record this year and stay in the hunt for the eighth seed. The NBA values winning, so that’ll help Mitchell. When players like Fox, John Collins and others are 10, 15 or 20 games under .500, the NBA will notice Mitchell helping the Jazz win games. His two-way play and toughness will earn endless admirers and some Rookie of the Year votes. Don’t sleep on the Louisville product.