Utah Jazz: Rookie Donovan Mitchell being recognized by NBA’s best

During his first year in the NBA, Utah Jazz wing Donovan Mitchell has emerged as one of the leagues top rookies. Some of the NBA’s best are starting to recognize it.

Entering the 2017-18 NBA season, Utah Jazz rookie wing Donovan Mitchell was seen as one of the most NBA-ready players taken in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Mitchell proved that to be true early on in his rookie campaign, noticeably not experiencing a learning curve many rookies go through while making the jump from college basketball to the NBA.

The 6’3″, 211-pound guard began the year coming off the bench, and it was immediately evident that he deserved a larger role.

On Nov. 10, Mitchell permanently made his way into the Jazz starting lineup. Ever since that point, he has taken the NBA by storm.

Mitchell currently leads Utah in scoring this season, averaging 17.9 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 30.5 minutes per game.

Somehow, during the month of December, Mitchell has managed to even take his game up a notch. In 12 games so far this month, the rookie is averaging 22.6 points, 3.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 33.9 minutes per contest.

Oh, and he continues to top highlight reels with dunks like these:

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/945868477524348928

With his recent jump in production to highlight an already solid rookie campaign, many have begun to take notice of Donovan’s play and talent so far this season.

Most recently, that has included some of the NBA’s top players.

It began just before Christmas, when Utah took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Salt Lake City. In that game, Mitchell finished with 29 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in a 103-98 loss at Vivint Smart Home Arena against a surging Thunder team.

As the game concluded, Oklahoma City’s Big Three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony approached Mitchell to offer him words of encouragement and presumably offer the young rookie some advice.

On Wednesday, that recognition continued with two well-known NBA All-Stars and future Hall-of-Famers.

It started early Wednesday, when nine-time All-Star and current Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul came out saying Mitchell “controls [his ceiling],” adding, “He’s that good.”

That’s some high praise from a player who has been around the league for 13 years and has seen a lot of players come and go.

The praise of Mitchell continued Wednesday afternoon prior to Utah’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Eight-time All-Star, NBA MVP and current Warriors wing Kevin Durant, who won the 2007-08 NBA Rookie of the Year award, also said plenty of good things about Mitchell prior to their first meeting of the season.

The 11-year pro said he got to watch Mitchell a couple of times so far this season, saying he is “young and explosive and he has confidence,” adding that we are “seeing him getting better and better each month.”

The Jazz liked Mitchell’s abilities and potential when they selected him with the No. 13 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. So far, the timetable for his abilities and potential to all come together at the NBA level has appeared to have sped up faster than expected.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft: End of 2017 edition

Mitchell is a special player in Utah, and many around the NBA — including some of the league’s top talent — have started to recognize just how special he is.