The Development of Donovan Mitchell is Crucial

It’s nearly impossible to imagine how Donovan Mitchell could have been better in his rookie season. The expectations definitely were not for the 13th overall pick, to end being in the running with Ben Simmons to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award. However, the next step in his development is crucial for the progression of the Jazz organization.

It has always been a challenge for teams like the Utah Jazz to attract major talents in free agency. The best way for that to change would be for Mitchell to be so good that a star player wants to come to Utah to form a trio with him and Rudy Gobert.

Gobert seems like an ideal match to make a “big three” work. He almost exclusively makes his offensive impact as an off-ball threat within the flow of the game, so there wouldn’t be any debate about who would need to take a back seat. Not only that, he is a tremendous defensive anchor that thrives in the rebounding department too.

As for Mitchell, he has the explosive offensive ability that could be key to drawing the interest of other stars to want to go to Utah. I will have an in-depth analysis about how he can take the next step next season, but in summary, he was elite as a spot-up threat last season but needs to improve his efficiency in the other components of his offensive repertoire.

While the Western Conference is so loaded with talent, Mitchell managing to earn a spot in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game could go a long way. Not to mention, All-Star Weekend is a great recruiting opportunity and he could try to take advantage of it.