New York Knicks: How players picked after Frank Ntilikina have fared
118. . SG. Jazz. Donovan Mitchell. 13. player
Age: 22
Height, Weight: 6-foot-3, 215 pounds
Slash Line: .429/.335/.801
Career Averages: 21.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 2.3 3PM
The 13th pick of the 2017 NBA Draft will not just bite the New York Knicks, but about nine of the 12 teams that skipped him in the lottery.
Donovan Mitchell went to the Utah Jazz via trade, as the Denver Nuggets sent his draft rights for Tyler Lydon and Trey Lyles. It’s safe to say who’s won this trade through nearly two seasons, as the Louisville product looks like a player at the forefront of the NBA’s next talent wave.
Soaring as a rookie, Mitchell surprised with 20.5 points to lead an upstart Jazz team to one of the West’s top seeds. It was one of the NBA’s few surprises in 2017-18, and he just missed NBA Rookie of the Year honors for it, controversially.
Mitchell’s numbers have risen slightly as a sophomore, but while shooting just 42.1 percent on 32.9 percent from behind the arc. It’s little reason to be disappointed in his development, though, especially with a rise in assists and a steady 1.5 assists per game.
Along with Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox and Lauri Markkanen, Mitchell seems like one of this class’s headliners for the next decade, and he just might lead them all.
The New York Knicks once sought Mitchell in the draft, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. Phil Jackson even went to watch his pro day, but loved the player he chose instead. The legendary coach was fired as president of basketball operations days after the draft.
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Mitchell may have taken New York out of the “Tank for Zion Williamson” sweepstakes in 2018-19, but offer hope for the future. Kristaps Porzingis could have stuck, as well. That’s hypothetical, though, and no one will know how this franchise would stand with this player or anyone else but Ntilikina at No. 8.