Utah Jazz: How Donovan Mitchell can elevate his game

The Utah Jazz are in position to make a run in the loaded West next year, and to do that, they must rely largely on Donovan Mitchell’s improvement.

When the Utah Jazz selected Donovan Mitchell with the 13th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, no one expected him to lead the team in his first year.

He averaged a solid 15 points per game in his sophomore season at Louisville, but that came on only 40.8 percent shooting from the field. Many felt he had a long way to go.

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However, every NBA fan learned quickly that Mitchell had a lot to offer a Jazz team that lost its star player the previous summer. He averaged 20.5 points and 3.1 assists per game and he even notched 1.5 steals per game to contribute on defense.

Mitchell brought leadership and a killer mentality to a team that so badly needed it. Later on in his rookie year, people realized the potential that Mitchell and a defensively stout supporting cast had. Utah finished 4th in the conference, but only one game behind for third.

Utah proceeded to eliminate the Thunder in the first round, only to lose to Houston in the following round.

Going into his second season, the Jazz were running it back with the same core group of guys. Mitchell saw his numbers increase, even though other teams focused their defense around him.

Sure, players like Joe Ingles or Ricky Rubio would have their nights, but they only brought consistency on the defensive end. As a result, Mitchell shot the ball slightly worse but increased his scoring to 23.8 points per game.

The Jazz finished fifth in the West last season. However, they increased their win total by two. While still a small margin of increase, it was no doubt impressive when considering how tough the West was compared to the previous year.

Going against the Rockets again, Utah aimed to redeem themselves. However, they lost in five games, leading Mitchell to give a rather short answer as to what he wants to work on this summer.

The Jazz have made major improvements across the board to their roster this offseason. Bringing in players such as Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley and Ed Davis to bolster the rotation will only bring good things for the franchise trying to exorcise its first-round demons.

These additions will only put more pressure on Mitchell, though. He’ll have to transform his game in order for the team to have sustained success.

The clock is ticking for the Jazz, whether they realize it or not. Mike Conley is at the peak of his career, and Rudy Gobert will be looking for a fairly large extension in two short years, especially with two Defensive Player of the Year awards under his belt.

The team will most likely not have the cap space to keep the depth they currently have, meaning these next two years are the most important in Mitchell’s young career.

In order to evolve his game, Mitchell needs to indeed get in better shape, something he already acknowledged. Even with the additions the Jazz acquired, Donovan Mitchell will still be the primary scoring threat.

Along with that comes his efficiency, which has been the biggest black cloud hovering over him these past two years.

If Donovan Mitchell can become a more efficient scorer, that will open up possibilities for Conley, Bogdanovic, and even Ingles to become involved in the offense and get better looks consistently.

Mitchell should primarily focus on his off-ball movement, though. Having Conley will allow Donovan to open up on the wings, in the corner and become a spot-up/catch-and-shoot threat.

We’ve seen how dangerous great off-ball movement can be, with the likes of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson lighting up scoreboards without dominating a possession.

It should be assumed that Mitchell will improve in all those facets of the game. If he does, prepare for the Jazz to be a much more dangerous team than many expect. This is still Donovan Mitchell’s team, and with that comes his responsibility to take them further by furthering his own skill set.

If he can do that, this team could very well be looking at a Western Conference Finals berth.