Utah Jazz: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season
5. Donovan Mitchell is a star
When the Utah Jazz traded up to the 13th pick in order to select Donovan Mitchell in the 2017 NBA Draft, no one — including the Jazz front office — knew he was going to be this good. Mitchell led the Jazz in scoring for seven of their 11 postseason games — a staggering number for a rookie on a team that made it to the second round.
While he didn’t know he had an instant star and future MVP-caliber talent on his hands, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey knew he was special and worth going after. In the aftermath of an impressive pre-draft workout by Mitchell, Lindsey went around to every team employee in the building and warned them that if word got out, they were fired.
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Strong words, but one can’t help but think they were justified, as Utah has come away with the best draft-day steal since Giannis Antetokounmpo went 15th overall. Mitchell led all rookies with 20.5 points per game, and may have won Rookie of the Year against any candidate of the past 15 years if it wasn’t for Ben Simmons also being eligible for the award.
In the playoffs, Mitchell did not slow down one bit, averaging 24.4 points over 11 games. While Russell Westbrook was taking every available shot trying to keep his team afloat in the first round, Donovan Mitchell was responding with basket after basket to push the Thunder out of the way.
In the second round against the Houston Rockets, Mitchell was the focus of an entire defensive scheme, but still found ways to break through. In the Jazz’s last chance, a closeout Game 5 in Houston, he came out after halftime determined not to let his team lose and singlehandedly outscored Houston 22-21 in the third quarter.
Check out the best from Donovan Mitchell's epic 22-point quarter in Game 5! pic.twitter.com/aazjr8NcQ3
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) May 9, 2018
No one saw Spida Mitchell coming, but he’s a can’t miss player now. Whether he’s a young Dwyane Wade or something totally different, Mitchell has begun his career in the best way possible. Utah found itself a gem.