Earlier this year, Utah Jazz assistant coach Johnnie Bryant told me a story. It was early October, and Bryant was in the gym with Donovan Mitchell introducing the Jazz rookie to some different moves. Mitchell had already grabbed everyone's attention with a monster Summer League showing after falling to No. 13 in the draft, and now, as a predominant two-foot jumper, he was set on evolving his footwork as a one-foot finisher at and around the rim.
"We were working on sort of a Euro-step move, if you can visualize coming at the defender full speed, ball in your left hand, and you throw the ball into the middle of your body like you're going to your right, but then you pick it up and Euro step back to your left," Bryant told CBS Sports. "So we worked on it for a day, and the very next night he did it to Tyson Chandler in a game [at full speed], just like that. That's when I think I started to realize we had a special player."
That story is the perfect microcosm for what Mitchell is doing in these playoffs, and has been doing all season. He just picks things up so quickly. So seemingly effortlessly. One day he's perfecting a Euro step overnight, the next he's figuring out how to produce as a No. 1 option, in the playoffs, on an otherwise offensively limited team, on the fly.
It's a whole different level of burden when teams are devoting their full defensive attention, and game planning, to stopping you. We saw what that did to Damian Lillard in the first round against the Pelicans, who surprised Lillard with the Steph Curry treatment out to 30 feet, sending waves of defenders at him and trapping everything in a way he admitted he'd never experienced. Suffice it to say, Mitchell has never experienced any of this either. Yet here he is, almost flawlessly leading a Jazz team that is currently tied with the heavily favored Rockets 1-1 in the conference semifinals.
In Game 2 on Wednesday, Mitchell had an off night by his standards -- 17 points on 6 of 21 from the field and just 2 of 8 from downtown. He was also a team-high plus-13 in his 37 minutes. He is the gravity that supports almost all Utah function, the lone true creator off the dribble who can get into the lane and create open looks for guys like Ricky Rubio, who is out with a hamstring at the moment but is in the middle of a career shooting year, and Joe Ingles, who went 7 of 9 from 3-point land in Game 2 for a career-high 27 points.
All told, Utah had six players score in double figures in its Game 2 win, and another two, Dante Exum and Royce O'Neale, were really good on both ends whole combining for 15 points. That kind of offensive balance is so important for a team like Utah, which lacks individual creators outside of Mitchell, which in turn makes Mitchell's job even harder. It would be one thing to give a talented young athlete the ball and say: "Go get yours, don't worry about anyone else." But to give the ball to a rookie and say: "Go get yours, but make sure everyone else gets theirs as well," that's a whole different thing.
Russell Westbrook still hasn't figured out how to properly balance those two tasks, how to unleash his own scoring instincts while still spreading the wealth. Kyrie Irving has been working on it for years. Mitchell seems to do it so naturally. Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey told me that was one of the things he liked most about Mitchell coming out of Louisville: That he had, for lack of a better explanation, come up in the game as part of a system rather than an isolated star.
He was "unselfish inside his role [in college]," was how Lindsey put it. Remember, Mitchell only averaged 15 points a game his final season at Louisville, and 11 per game for his career. This is not a gunner at heart. "[Donovan] had to learn to be a high-usage guy."
True to form, he has learned quickly, because that's what he does and that's what the Jazz need from him. They don't have enough firepower for Mitchell to let off the gas at any point. He has to attack, attack, attack, even when he's not having a good game, which is harder than it sounds, pushing through whatever tiny learning curve he might have. And he's willing, and able, to do just that: Push through. That's how he went 0 for 7 from deep in Game 2 vs. OKC in the first round, only to respond with 13 fourth-quarter points as the Jazz evened the series. All told, Mitchell has 60 fourth-quarter points in these playoffs, which leads everyone.
On Wednesday vs. Houston, it was basically the same story: A tough shooting night for Mitchell, but down the stretch there was no doubt who Utah's best player was as the rookie fueled a 16-2 fourth-quarter run that effectively decided the game. As part of that run, he did this:
Seriously, this guy is so special. Not just for the athleticism, which is obvious, or the ever-evolving skill set, which is sublime -- but for the rate at which he's picking all this up. Difference defenses. Different situations. All of it squarely on his shoulders to identity and dissect in a split second. It would be too much for a lot of 10-year veterans, let alone a rookie, but Mitchell only needs to see things once, then he's got it. With 209 points through eight playoff games, only two rookies in NBA history have gotten to 200 playoff points faster: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six games) and Wilt Chamberlain (seven games).
Playoff basketball is not supposed to be this easy, and Mitchell's task is even with Rubio out, as once again he's had to adapt on the fly, assuming an even more primary role as the overall offensive conductor in addition to his individual responsibilities. Don't forget, at least half of Mitchell's focus has to be at the defensive end vs. a Rockets team that will shoot you out of the gym, and right out of the whole series, if you're not careful. He doesn't have the luxury that a James Harden or Stephen Curry does. He can't focus almost solely on offense and just "do his job" defensively. He has to be a difference maker defensively. He carries the load on both ends. At 21 years old.
How many rookies are the best player on their own team while also guarding the other team's best player? It's more than a matter of skill at that point; that's about mental discipline and stamina and supreme intelligence -- things that are supposed to come with time Who was it checking Harden down the stretch? Mitchell. Who wasn't afraid to get right into Harden's space and crowd the hell out of him even with five fouls hanging over him? Mitchell. Who knew exactly when to go get his own bucket and when to kick to his teammates? Mitchell. If you didn't know better, you'd think he's been in this situation a hundred times. You'd think this is all old hat.
"As far as being a fast learner," Bryant said, "he's the best I've been around."
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