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July 11th, 2021
Davion Mitchell is a name that became very popular after a great tournament run in this year’s March Madness. Leading Baylor to the National Championship game and beating a stacked Gonzaga team hoping to cap off their incredible undefeated run. With Mitchell’s postseason run, his name skyrocketed on big boards and mock drafts being as high as No.3 on big boards and being drafted in the top 5-7 in mock drafts.
Mitchell’s numbers in March Madness: 13.5PPG-5.8APG-2.8RPG-0.6BPG-1.6SPG-1.3TO (50% FG, 36% 3PT FG, 45% FT) 6 games.
In a very balanced Baylor offense, Mitchell was a two-way guard who could handle the responsibility of the ball being in his hands while excelling as a guard off-the-ball. Baylor’s attack came from their backcourt of Jared Butler and Mitchell and were two of the best players in the tournament. Butler led the scoring attack while Mitchell was the facilitator and could guard the best player on the other team. What makes Mitchell so special is that he can create shots for himself and his teammates with his craftiness and his athleticism while being one of- if not- the best defender on the court.
Now, here we are today and Mitchell is slated to go as high as 7th and no lower than 14th in the draft. The case for Mitchell being a lottery selection is very interesting if you ask me. Before postseason play started in College basketball, Mitchell wasn’t even projected to go 1st round. Teams who are in the lottery are usually at the bottom of the standings and are most likely looking to rebuild and find young guys with the most potential so in a few years they can be back somewhere at least in the hunt to make the playoffs and keep building from there. The problem with Mitchell being taken so high is his age and his peak. Mitchell is 22 years old and will turn 23 by the time the 2021-22 NBA season begins. Keon Johnson(19), Moses Moody(19), Jalen Johnson(19), James Bouknight(20), Ziaire Williams(19), are all prospects who could be taken around the same spots Mitchell is projected to go and are all younger with far more potential. The point is that Mitchell is a guy you look for around more later in the 1st round for teams that made the playoffs and want to add some more fire power, or teams with more than one 1st round pick and want to play it safe with their next pick.. Mitchell will come into the league and make an immediate impact, there’s no doubting that, but taking a guy who could be considered more as a “safe pick” is just not the way to go for teams who are desperately looking to strike gold and draft the next superstar in the league.
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