{"id":11393,"date":"2017-12-01T18:39:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T23:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=11393"},"modified":"2017-12-01T18:39:31","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T23:39:31","slug":"donovan-mitchell-may-be-steal-2017-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/12\/01\/donovan-mitchell-may-be-steal-2017-nba-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Donovan Mitchell May Be the Steal of the 2017 NBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following the 2016-2017 season, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/utah-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Utah Jazz<\/a> organization and fans had a lot to look forward to. Winning 51 games, capturing the 5th seed and winning their first playoff series since 2010 was a breath of fresh air for the state of Utah. That excitement continued when the Jazz traded for a veteran point guard in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rubiori01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rubio<\/a><\/strong>. However, that excitement did not stay following <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/haywago01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gordon Hayward<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hillge01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">George Hill<\/a>&#8216;s<\/strong> decision to leave Utah to go to Boston and Sacramento, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The Utah Jazz found themselves with a big hole to fill. Hayward and Hill accounted for nearly\u00a040 points per game throughout the 2016-2017 season. What the Jazz did not know is that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a><\/strong>, who they drafted just a couple weeks prior, would have the potential to fill some of that hole.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Donovan Mitchell May Be the Steal of the 2017 NBA Draft<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Drafting Donovan Mitchell<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Going into the draft, the Jazz\u00a0had a\u00a0couple of late 1st round picks with the potential to move up in the draft if the opportunity presented itself. Sure enough, the Jazz traded up sending one of their 1st round picks (24th overall) and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lylestr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trey Lyles<\/a><\/strong> to the Denver Nuggets to draft Donovan Mitchell. The second that Hayward and Hill left Utah, Mitchell was presented with an opportunity to contribute right from the beginning.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>In Good Company<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mitchell has had his ups and downs this season, but his recent play has earned him a starting position. The\u00a0aggression and swagger he brings to the court are exactly what the Jazz needed after losing such essential pieces to their success. Some have compared Mitchell to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong>, possibly because of Lillard&#8217;s ties to Utah. However, let us look at a different comparison.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Donovan Mitchell&#039;s Major Putback Hammer! | Oct. 28, 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qPFy_mCKSH0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Mitchell in 22 games this season has averaged 15.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game and 3.2 assists per game on 39 percent shooting. These numbers are nearly identical to an NBA great in his rookie season. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wadedw01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dwyane Wade<\/a><\/strong> in his rookie season averaged 16.2 points per game, 4 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game on 46 percent shooting. However, given the slow start by Mitchell, he has the potential to not only make up the ground but surpass those numbers. To be even comparable to a player like Wade is an amazing accomplishment.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Rookies Around the League<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>With the start of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Simmons<\/a><\/strong> and the hype surrounding <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/balllo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonzo Ball<\/a><\/strong>, Mitchell has somewhat flown under the radar. Despite being drafted 13th overall, Mitchell is 3rd among rookies in points per game. Is he the best steal of the draft? Only time will tell. At this point, the Jazz should be happy with finding Mitchell.<\/p>\n<p>His potential appears to be higher than his current play. As he gains more experience, his shooting percentage should rise and his knowledge of the game will increase. The combination of Mitchell and defensive stopper <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/strong> will be great for years to come. Stars around the league should take note (pun intended) and consider joining these great young players if the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/634046504\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/634046504?et=As-pBg5JQ3Bd0Tz-vxRzOw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=zC9xgWh-8mYxOlGMhVZBS0d8x8Ge-CqdttO6dBQoumI=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the quarter mark of the season, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has shown he may be the steal of this year&#8217;s NBA Draft. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2348,"featured_media":11415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,2,24],"tags":[591,900,96,144],"class_list":["post-11393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-featured","category-jazz","tag-2017-nba-draft","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-nba","tag-utah-jazz"],"modified_by":"Matthew Cardenas","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2348"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}