{"id":96309,"date":"2024-09-18T13:58:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T17:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=96309"},"modified":"2024-09-19T17:18:42","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T21:18:42","slug":"top-25-nba-players-2024-25-no-16-donovan-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/18\/top-25-nba-players-2024-25-no-16-donovan-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 25 NBA Players 2024-25: No. 16 &#8211; Donovan Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing our <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/16\/top-25-nba-players-2024-25-no-17-jimmy-butler\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">top 25<\/a> list, we arrive at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell. <\/a>The Cleveland Cavaliers guard is a world-class scorer with a solid all-around game. Let&#8217;s dive into Mitchell&#8217;s game and his place among the NBA&#8217;s best.<\/p>\n<h2>Top 25 NBA Players 2024-25: No. 16 &#8211; Donovan Mitchell<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>A Dynamic Three-Level Scorer<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are few scorers as complete and dynamic as Mitchell. With superb athleticism, Mitchell is an explosive finisher and skilled downhill scorer. \u00a0Mitchell is also a high-level shooter from beyond the arc and the mid-range area. Mitchell\u2019s three-level scoring abilities make him one of the most difficult players to game plan against in the league. In addition to his incredible scoring, Mitchell is a rapidly improving and high-quality playmaker. Overall Mitchell has an ideal combination of elite scoring, incredible athleticism, and high-level playmaking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Donovan Mitchell&#039;s ELITE 23-24 Season Mixtape \ud83d\udd77\ufe0f\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3m1rPoWAQeg?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<h3><strong>Season Recap<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitchell led the Cavs to their second straight playoff appearance and first playoff series win since 2018. Despite multiple injuries, the Cavs finished as the fourth seed and won 48 games. In 55 games Mitchell posted averages of 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 46.2\/36.8\/86.5 shooting splits. His 6.1 assists per game and 28.1\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html#advanced::14\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assist<\/a> percent were both career-highs. Impressively Mitchell&#8217;s +5.5 <a href=\"https:\/\/dunksandthrees.com\/epm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimated plus\/minus<\/a> ranked within the top 10. The Cavs had a 36-19 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/cavs-record-with-donovan-mitchell-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record<\/a> in games that Mitchell played, which is a 53-win pace. From early February to early March, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/leagues\/NBA_2024_standings_by_date_eastern_conference.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cavs<\/a> were the second seed. Additionally with key injuries to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garlada01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Garland<\/a>\u00a0Mitchell carried the Cavs to an impressive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=cavs+record+from+12%2F16%2F23+to+1%2F29%2F24\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">15-4<\/a> stretch. Mitchell was a fringe MVP candidate during this time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While injuries in early March kept Mitchell in and out of the lineup and was ineligible for awards his season was incredibly impressive. Mitchell\u2019s stellar play continued in the playoffs and he propelled the Cavs to a first-round series win over the Magic. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01\/gamelog-playoffs\/#45-51-sum:pgl_basic_playoffs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">averaged<\/a> 28.7 points on the series including a 50-point outburst in Game 6 and a 39-point performance in Game 7. Mitchell was the Cavs&#8217; only consistent source of offense during the playoffs. Before going down with an injury Mitchell had three brilliant games against the eventual champion Boston Celtics.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Donovan Mitchell&#8217;s last 4 games:<\/p>\n<p>\u25ab\ufe0f 50-4-4 on 65% (outscored the rest of the Cavs)<br \/>\n\u25ab\ufe0f 39-9-5 on 57% (pulled off largest G7 comeback ever)<br \/>\n\u25ab\ufe0f 33-6-5 on 61%<br \/>\n\u25ab\ufe0f 29-7-8 on 67% (upset on the road as +13.5 underdog)<\/p>\n<p>Cavs are +41 with him ON and -37 with him OFF. Just backpacking. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xc0Mo4gsks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/xc0Mo4gsks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u0274\u1d0f\u1d1b (@georgemikan) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/georgemikan\/status\/1788743059724804453?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Season Outlook<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the offseason, Mitchell <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/02\/donovan-mitchell-cavs-darius-garland-rumors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">signed<\/a> a three-year $150 million dollar contract extension with the Cavs shutting down rumors of him leaving as a 2025 free agent. The Cavs also <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/01\/what-jarrett-allen-extension-means-for-cavs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">extended<\/a> Mobley and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarrett Allen<\/a>. While they didn\u2019t make any key roster changes, securing their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/17\/cleveland-cavaliers-keep-core-together-ahead-of-2024-25-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">core<\/a> is a massive win for Cleveland. Additionally, the Cavs hired <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/24\/cavaliers-hire-warriors-assistant-as-head-coach\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Kenny Atkinson<\/a> as their new head coach. Atkinson will give the Cavs a more uptempo style of offense with an emphasis on shooting and ball movement. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitchell already thrived in the JB Bickerstaff\u2019s system. However, Atkinson could empower Mitchell more as a playmaker and his assist number further improve. More importantly for the Cavs Atkinson\u2019s hiring could also allow Mobley\u2019s offense to blossom and Darius Garland is poised to have a bounce-back season. Having two consistent scoring options next to Mitchell could allow the Cavs to compete for a top-three seed despite the East improving. If the Cavs reach 50-plus wins expect Mitchell to receive first-team All-NBA buzz.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Last Word\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitchell is a victim of the league being loaded with talent. He could be a top-10 player in previous years and is a high-quality number-one option with incredible scoring abilities. However, there are simply too many talented players for Mitchell to be any higher than 12. While 16 might feel like a harsh ranking for Mitchell, it\u2019s a reflection of how talented the league is rather than a knock on Mitchell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing our top 25 list, we arrive at\u00a0Donovan Mitchell. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard is a world-class scorer with a solid all-around game. Let&#8217;s dive into Mitchell&#8217;s game and his place among the NBA&#8217;s best. Top 25 NBA Players 2024-25: No. 16 &#8211; Donovan Mitchell A Dynamic Three-Level Scorer There are few scorers as complete and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4779,"featured_media":96423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,9],"tags":[900,5031,49488],"class_list":["post-96309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-nba-player-rankings","tag-top-25-nba-players-2024-25"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96309","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\/4779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}