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The Donovan Mitchell Hype Thread! (repository of highlights and effusive praise)

Is somebody having a hard time rationalizing why Denver traded him to pick up Lyles and Lydon?

Their thinking was likely that they already have Jamal Murray and Gary Harris whom they like in the backcourt, and they were actively trying to get a PF with shooting range. They had a trade lined up for Kevin Love that fell through at the last minute when Indiana pulled Paul George out of that trade. They reacted a bit and called the Jazz to ask for Trey Lyles, a player they like. They knew the Jazz wanted to trade up into the lotto. They were hoping OG Anunoby would be on the board at #24, but Toronto took him at #23. They weren't as clued in on Mitchell as the Jazz were, and they wanted to add forwards to their roster.

Basically, the Jazz got lucky.
 
Do we think the Jazz would prefer Mitchell over Dennis Smith Jr? Mitchell shut down Smith when they played last year.

It wouldn't surprise me if Dennis Smith Jr is ultimately the best player from this draft. Not that I think that, but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
Their thinking was likely that they already have Jamal Murray and Gary Harris whom they like in the backcourt, and they were actively trying to get a PF with shooting range. They had a trade lined up for Kevin Love that fell through at the last minute when Indiana pulled Paul George out of that trade. They reacted a bit and called the Jazz to ask for Trey Lyles, a player they like. They knew the Jazz wanted to trade up into the lotto. They were hoping OG Anunoby would be on the board at #24, but Toronto took him at #23. They weren't as clued in on Mitchell as the Jazz were, and they wanted to add forwards to their roster.

Basically, the Jazz got lucky.

I think Lyles can be good if you create space for him. If you depend upon HIM to create space, he has limitations. . .
 
Chris Vernon on the Ringer NBA show :

"Pitino loved him[Mitchell], which tells you everything you need to know... Pitino doesn't love anybody and he swore by the kid. I went and talked to Glynn Cyprien, who coached the Grizzlies summer league team. The Grizzlies played against Mitchell and it was the game he had 37 and 8 steals and I watched the game and I thought it looks like you put a 4-time NBA all-star out on the floor with the rest of these guys. He's just so much better than everyone. And after the game I went and talked to the coach [Glynn Cyprien] about Donovan Mitchell. And he told me that in last year he was a personnel guy and a scout for the Grizzlies and he went to Louisville to see one of their practices and said during the course of the practice Pitino came over to him and told him "Cyp, this is the best shooter that I've ever had". Think about everybody that's ever played for Rick Pitino. He said "this kid's the best shooter I've had". And then... after the practice is over... Donovan Mitchell walks straight over to him and said "Coach, my name's Donovan Mitchell. Is there any tips you can give me that will help me on the next level?". And he was like "I was just blown away". I'm telling you every single person I've gone to at SL... none of them are Jazz related people, did nothing but rave about this kid both on and off the court. I think I'm pretty much all in on Donovan Mitchell".
 
Mitchell is the most athletic player with the ball that the Jazz have had in years (no disrespect to Alec Burks). The Jazz haven't had a player with that combination of speed, athleticism and offensive potential all over the floor that I can remember. Mitchell just has a higher gear and the ability to make athletic plays on both sides of the ball, really at an elite level.

Another thing, Mitchell just has a much higher BBall IQ than Alec. Has better awareness.
 
The SKY is the limit here.

I think hes on the same talent level as Rudy Gobert. Now, he just needs the experience. If they redid the draft today he would go 5. Can you believe it? We got a number 5 draft pick in this EPIC '17 draft!

His all around energy and personality are so positive. I think he and Rudy are the leaders going forward.

I like Mitchell a lot, but I think this is premature. Mitchell could end up being just a solid rotation player. I would urge caution so we don't build this kid up to be something he might not be. Let's see how he does against real NBA competition first. Remember, he shot 40% in college.

He might be the kind of guy that, though skilled, uses possessions below league average when asked to be a high usage guy. To use Locke's metric, he might be a poor PAAC player. Let's definitely slow down on the Donovan love. I really hope he's a star, but honestly that might not be who he is and I think we all have to prepare ourselves for that possibility.
 
Maybe, but I think that "put the team on my back" mentality is also something that can often lead to hero ball and poor team play. I thought that was Hayward's strength, always playing within the team. But like most things, your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness.
Was going to post something similar about Mitchell's mentality/emption. He seems to take things personal and that could be bad. Or maybe he's playing it up a bit. Like being low on "The Ladder" He might even be upset that the Jazz shut him down and he didn't get named to one of the Vegas league teams.

How will he react to possibly coming off the bench? Will he think he should have started in order to compete for ROY? Does he hold it against Utah like Kanter did? Or does he "never forget" about a perceived slight like Hayward? And like you said, Cy, does he play hero ball or does he work within the team's schemes?
 
Was going to post something similar about Mitchell's mentality/emption. He seems to take things personal and that could be bad. Or maybe he's playing it up a bit. Like being low on "The Ladder" He might even be upset that the Jazz shut him down and he didn't get named to one of the Vegas league teams.

How will he react to possibly coming off the bench? Will he think he should have started in order to compete for ROY? Does he hold it against Utah like Kanter did? Or does he "never forget" about a perceived slight like Hayward? And like you said, Cy, does he play hero ball or does he work within the team's schemes?

I vaguely remember him saying he expects to have to earn minutes I think that means he understands that he may not come in day 1 as a starter. Also the Jazz moved up for him and made sure to not sign a free agent to block his minutes. If he ever leaves I don't think it will be because he thought the Jazz mistreated him during his rookie year.
 
Was going to post something similar about Mitchell's mentality/emption. He seems to take things personal and that could be bad. Or maybe he's playing it up a bit. Like being low on "The Ladder" He might even be upset that the Jazz shut him down and he didn't get named to one of the Vegas league teams.

How will he react to possibly coming off the bench? Will he think he should have started in order to compete for ROY? Does he hold it against Utah like Kanter did? Or does he "never forget" about a perceived slight like Hayward? And like you said, Cy, does he play hero ball or does he work within the team's schemes?

I think he is smarter/more mature than this
 
I like Mitchell a lot, but I think this is premature. Mitchell could end up being just a solid rotation player. I would urge caution so we don't build this kid up to be something he might not be. Let's see how he does against real NBA competition first. Remember, he shot 40% in college.

He might be the kind of guy that, though skilled, uses possessions below league average when asked to be a high usage guy. To use Locke's metric, he might be a poor PAAC player. Let's definitely slow down on the Donovan love. I really hope he's a star, but honestly that might not be who he is and I think we all have to prepare ourselves for that possibility.

Other than the 'slow down on the Donvan love' statement (this is a hype thread) I agree.

Mitchell's poor shot selection seems to be one of his flaws still and he may go through some rookie pains, but from what I've seen so far Mitchell looks like the type of player that is very coachable, hard working, and has a passion for the game like you see in Rudy.

We should temper our expectations a bit, but damn if it isn't easy to like this guy and think that the sky's the limit for him.
 
Was going to post something similar about Mitchell's mentality/emption. He seems to take things personal and that could be bad. Or maybe he's playing it up a bit. Like being low on "The Ladder" He might even be upset that the Jazz shut him down and he didn't get named to one of the Vegas league teams.

How will he react to possibly coming off the bench? Will he think he should have started in order to compete for ROY? Does he hold it against Utah like Kanter did? Or does he "never forget" about a perceived slight like Hayward? And like you said, Cy, does he play hero ball or does he work within the team's schemes?

To me Mitchell seems like the type of player to understand that playing time is something that has to be earned, and that his defense will be the way to earn it.
 
Was going to post something similar about Mitchell's mentality/emption. He seems to take things personal and that could be bad. Or maybe he's playing it up a bit. Like being low on "The Ladder" He might even be upset that the Jazz shut him down and he didn't get named to one of the Vegas league teams.

How will he react to possibly coming off the bench? Will he think he should have started in order to compete for ROY? Does he hold it against Utah like Kanter did? Or does he "never forget" about a perceived slight like Hayward? And like you said, Cy, does he play hero ball or does he work within the team's schemes?
You are a whiff machine.
 
"We have the chance to be very good defensively," Utah rookie guard Donovan Mitchell said. "With Rudy in the middle, that allows the guards on the perimeter to pressure their men. If we get beat, we have the big guy to erase our mistakes and challenge in the paint. It's a nice luxury to have."

DM sounds like a high IQ kid.
 
Chris Vernon on the Ringer NBA show :

"Pitino loved him[Mitchell], which tells you everything you need to know... Pitino doesn't love anybody and he swore by the kid. I went and talked to Glynn Cyprien, who coached the Grizzlies summer league team. The Grizzlies played against Mitchell and it was the game he had 37 and 8 steals and I watched the game and I thought it looks like you put a 4-time NBA all-star out on the floor with the rest of these guys. He's just so much better than everyone. And after the game I went and talked to the coach [Glynn Cyprien] about Donovan Mitchell. And he told me that in last year he was a personnel guy and a scout for the Grizzlies and he went to Louisville to see one of their practices and said during the course of the practice Pitino came over to him and told him "Cyp, this is the best shooter that I've ever had". Think about everybody that's ever played for Rick Pitino. He said "this kid's the best shooter I've had". And then... after the practice is over... Donovan Mitchell walks straight over to him and said "Coach, my name's Donovan Mitchell. Is there any tips you can give me that will help me on the next level?". And he was like "I was just blown away". I'm telling you every single person I've gone to at SL... none of them are Jazz related people, did nothing but rave about this kid both on and off the court. I think I'm pretty much all in on Donovan Mitchell".
Wow
 
In DL's last radio interview on 1280 with David James, he compared Donovan Mitchell coming out of college to Russell Westbrook. Westbrook wasn't seen as a PG since UCLA had Darren Collison running the point. Lindsey thinks that Mitchell has similar physical tools to Westbrook and thinks he can work on improving his vertical explosion and 3/4 court sprint speed. He thinks Mitchell has the vision, ball handling and passing skills to play the 1 down the road. Considering how conservative DL normally is in describing his players, I thought that was eye-opening.

The buzz is that the Jazz front office thinks Mitchell will become a real star in the league.
 
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