NBA: Biggest X-factor for all 30 teams in the 2019-20 season

Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Mitchell has spent his brief NBA career asserting himself as one of the best young talents in the game today.

In just two seasons, the former 13th overall pick has averaged 22.1 points along with 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, leading the Utah Jazz to consecutive playoff outings in the process.

Those counting numbers lump him together with some other great players, but it’s the lack of efficiency that draws the ire of fans everywhere. Mitchell has yet to shoot above 44 percent from the field during the regular season and boasts a playoff figure of just 38.9 percent.

Some of those struggles are no doubt due in part to the sizeable load he’s had to carry at the offensive end given how few offensive creators Utah had at its disposal.

He averaged 19.9 shot attempts per game as a sophomore, including over 22 a night in both postseason runs, the sole focus of nightly defenses that have little else to worry about.

The Jazz have long been an elite defensive team but struggled with only the 17th highest-scoring offense from a year ago.

That’s a ranking likely to change given the offseason additions of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic, two talented scorers in their own right who bring new dimensions to a team looking to ascend in the standings.

Conley has a long-standing position around the league as one of the most underrated floor generals.

Coming off one of his best seasons, he is sure to be of tremendous benefit through his ability to handle the basketball while Bogdanovic will stretch the defense to open lanes that had been previously cut off.

Mitchell has already exceeded expectations, but the honeymoon phase of his surprising output is now over. He is the face of the franchise with a supporting cast built to help him thrive.

The responsibility now falls on him to ascend to the heights many assume he is destined to reach and lift the Jazz to greater levels of success along the way.