Sacramento Kings point guard Davion Mitchell is a potential piece of the puzzle to help the team become relevant again. He’s an athletic player with great size and skill, who has shown he can be a reliable scorer in college basketball.
During his last season at Baylor, Davion Mitchell was a nice surprise. Mitchell was renowned for his defense, but his junior year saw him improve to a better-than-40 percent 3-point shooter. Mitchell was the driving force behind a Bears squad that won the NCAA National Championship in 2021. That run placed him on the radar of NBA scouts, putting him in the mix for a lottery pick. Mitchell was selected ninth overall by the Sacramento Kings, but he was thrust into a difficult position. For the last 15 years, the Kings have been a complete disaster.
Sacramento already has a surplus of guards on its roster. De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, and Buddy Hield have already established themselves as starters for the Kings. Mitchell, on the other hand, provides the franchise with something none of those guys do: a lockdown perimeter defender. His style of play is similar to that of Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, who was the Bucks’ missing piece in their championship run.
After his junior year at Baylor, Mitchell was drafted in the top ten of the NBA draft.
During the 2021 NBA Summer in Las Vegas, Sacramento Kings’ Davion Mitchell and Charlotte Hornets’ James Bouknight reach for a ball. | Getty Images/Ethan Miller
Mitchell’s first action with the Bears occurred during the 2019-20 season, after starting his career at Auburn before moving to Waco. That year, his numbers weren’t very impressive. With shooting splits of 46.7/32.4/66.3, he averaged 9.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. With a defensive box plus/minus of 4.0, he did show off his defensive potential. When a player is on the court, BPM utilizes the box score to assess his or her contribution to the team. Mitchell’s DBPM indicates that while he was on the floor, Baylor gave up four less points than when he wasn’t.
His last season was just as strong defensively, but he significantly improved his attacking skills. Mitchell scored 14.0 points a game on 51.1 percent shooting from the field and 44.7 percent from three in 2020-21. His assists per game increased to 5.5, indicating an improvement in his playmaking abilities.
Davion Mitchell’s play in the summer league shown that his defense can transfer to the NBA.
Mitchell was the captain of the Sacramento Kings’ summer league squad that won the title in Las Vegas. He made such an impression that he was awarded Summer League MVP. Sacramento was led in scoring by Louis King in the championship game against the Boston Celtics, but Mitchell found other ways to contribute. Mitchell was entrusted with defending Boston’s top guards, Carsen Edwards and Peyton Pritchard, as the team’s best perimeter defender. The two Celtics combined to score 21 points and turn the ball over nine times.
Mitchell’s two greatest assets before to the draft were on display in summer league. He regularly defended the opponent’s top backcourt player and shot 47.1 percent on 3.4 attempts from beyond the arc.
Mitchell has the potential to provide the Sacramento Kings with a reliable perimeter defender.
Fox is a lightning-quick point guard who can go to the hoop and create for his teammates. Haliburton is an attacking player with a high IQ who can also play defense, but he lacks top-end agility. Hield has shown to be nothing more than a three-point shooter so far in his career.
Mitchell’s defense, at just 6-foot-2 and a 6-4 wingspan, may have a ceiling if he is moved to bigger, longer wings. But he makes up for his lack of stature with sheer effort. He has the speed, athleticism, and attitude to compete with any NBA point guard. Pick-and-rolls have become a big component of the league’s offenses, but Mitchell can blow them up on a regular basis.
In the NBA, having a guy like that as your first line of defense is now a must. During last year’s playoffs, Holiday demonstrated this with the Milwaukee Bucks. A title-winning team needs a strong perimeter defender, and Mitchell provides one for the Kings as they try to reclaim relevance.
Sports-Reference provided all collegiate statistics, while NBA.com provided summer league data.
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