Ranked No. 34 – Utah Jazz Guard Donovan Mitchell
Sports Illustrated Ranks Utah Jazz rising star No. 34 in NBA’s Top 100.
The incomplete list is being revealed chunk-by-chunk, with Derrick Favors, Joe Ingles and Ricky Rubio previously coming in between 51-60.
Sports Illustrated’s The Crossover, written by Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney, recently released its Top NBA 100 list for the upcoming 2019 NBA season. Coming in between spots #51 and #60 were three players for the Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors, Joe Ingles and Ricky Rubio.
To view the entire list and read more from Sports Illustrated, CLICK HERE.
To begin, let me just say that I think this ranking is low for Donovan. I would have expected to see him more in the 20-30 range.
That being said, I love it when people underestimate Donovan Mitchell. The guy doesn’t let it go! Just like we’ve seen over and over in the past (ROY cough cough) Donovan has been underrated. Expect Donovan to make a big jump on this list in the 2019-2020 season because of that big old chip on his shoulder.
Sports Illustrated had the following to say about the true Rookie of the Year.
“His game has drawn endless comparisons to Dwyane Wade and his marketability is straight from the Damian Lillard playbook, but the recent star that Mitchell (20.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.7 APG) most embodied down the stretch was a young Derrick Rose. The unadulterated calm and confidence. The willingness to sacrifice life and limb to get to the rim. The savior scoring role on a roster built for defense. The ability to get veteran teammates to buy in—fully and eagerly—to everything he was selling. The measured responses to stunning triumphs. The euphoric embrace from his home crowd.
Such lofty comparisons are appropriate for Mitchell, who became just the third rookie guard to average 20+ PPG since 1990. The 22-year-old guard kept raising the bar as he led Utah past Oklahoma City in the first round: 28 points in Game 2 to steal homecourt advantage, 33 points in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead, and then 38 points in Game 6 to send Russell Westbrook packing. While the Rockets were able to dissect the Jazz in round two, Mitchell’s postseason debut made it clear that he’s set up for major success. His next steps—improving as a three-point shooter, getting to the line more frequently, and growing as a facilitator—are refinements rather than quantum leaps. If Rose was Chicago’s first superstar of the post-Jordan era, Mitchell might very well become Utah’s most beloved and decorated player since Stockton and Malone.”
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