Davion Mitchell Scout

by · May 25, 2021

The more and more I watched Baylor make their post season run, the more I fell in love with Davion Mitchell’s game. If you ever watched a Baylor game, you absolutely told yourself “Wow that #45 plays really hard.”

The Pelicans need shooters on one side of the ball and a bulldog defensive minded player on the other side. Now can they find that in free agency or in the trade market? Sure, but Davion Mitchell might also be able to take care of both of these issues as well.

Mitchell was a 3 year guard splitting his time at Auburn and then eventually transferring to Baylor.  He started all 60 games at Baylor avg. 11 points a game, 4 assists and 2 rebounds. Not to mention, he shot 44% from deep this year which is eye opening considering he was a 30% 3 PT shooter his first 2 years at the college level.

A couple of things that I like about his offensive game:

  • Craftiness
  • Pull up game
  • Passing

I think all 3 are positives in his game which will translate to the NBA. Davion was one of the best shooters off of the dribble last year in the country, only trailing Kispert from Gonzaga. If this part of his game is going to be able to translate to the NBA level…. Watch out.

Mitchell is constantly moving, re-positioning and is a really good decision maker in the PnR game. I really like the evolution of his pull up game especially from deep when facing guards. If a big gets switched on to him it is game over as he is to quick and crafty at the rim for bigger defenders. Mitchell needs to work on his handles a little bit, but the quickness makes up for that to beat his defender off of the dribble to get to the rim. I also love how he sets up his defender not only off ball, but when he has the ball in his hands. After watching film on him, so many times he will lull his defender to sleep and then just EXPLODE to the rim for an easy lay-up. As for his passing, I don’t think it is talked about enough. He is a great decision maker in the open floor and is not afraid to break down the defense and kick it out to a wide open teammate. He is a very unselfish Point Guard.

The one thing that stands out to me the most about Mitchell’s game is the motor he has. You can teach schemes, shooting form, etc.… but you can’t instill a motor into a player. This guy has it. He is RELENTELESS on the defensive side of the ball. He is a physical guard who gets in your shit for however long the game lasts. He has great anticipation, quick feet and very strong hands which create a ton of turnovers. He does a great job of forcing his opponent to one side of the floor and using his quickness to beat his man to the spot and either creating a turnover, bad shot or kick out.

The anticipation that Mitchell has is off the charts as well. He really uses his quickness and IQ to his advantage on the defensive side of the ball. He is not afraid of contact; he will take charges and he is not scared to take chances to create a deflection or steal. There are two things as a coach you can’t teach: Anticipation and Motor. Mitchell has both.

I mean, that is insane. He turned over his opponent 29% of the time one on one. Defensively he is ELITE.

Now, of course there is always a negative. I worry about his 6’2 frame as bigger guards might bully him in the NBA. But you can say that about Chris Paul, Donovan Mitchell, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard etc.…

The other thing that scares me is the ridiculous jump he made in 3 PT % from his Sophmore to Junior year. Is this for real? It is too early to say, but the one thing that does worry me is that he was a 64% FT shooter in his 3 years at the college level. If you have a good shot, with good form, you should never be in the 60th percentile at the FT line.

I know a lot of y’all want to trade the pick to get another star or play maker but I don’t think we necessarily have to do that as the play maker/scorer/defender might be Davion Mitchell. I wouldn’t mind if Griffin pulled the trigger and took him in the first round.

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