Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz should be ready when the season resumes
The Cinderella story of Donovan Mitchell has been a grand one to experience. This is a guy who knocked off the reigning MVP in the first round in 2018 and has also gone toe-to-toe against the best shooting guard (James Harden) in the playoffs multiple times. Now, in his third season, with one of the most underrated teams (Utah Jazz) in the Western Conference, Mitchell has an opportunity to shock the world later this summer.
The third-year guard’s numbers have improved year by year. Mitchell has slowly taken on that leadership role in Utah and understands his impact on the team’s success. Mitchell is so talented on the offensive end that it significantly makes Utah a more dangerous team than without him.
His resilience resonates with the other players and was the reason why they were amongst the top teams in the West.
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Over his first two postseasons, Mitchell has had his ups and downs, as any young player would. And the one player he may want to dethrone the most is James Harden. Mitchell has had his issues against Harden and trying to outduel him in the matchups they’ve played against.
The Utah Jaz will be ready
If the Houston Rockets and Jazz were to meet up again in this year’s postseason, it’s no question that Mitchell would have extra motivation to win. He will have to take his game to that extra level in order to complete the series against the future Hall of Famer.
Compared to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Rockets, and the other teams that revolve around the same seed as Utah, the Jazz can dethrone their teams with homecourt advantage and their firepower. This will give Mitchell the opportunity to trust his teammates even more on the basketball floor. Rudy Gobert can hopefully return and continue to be the defensive force under the rim for the Jazz.
But also, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, and other great supporting cast have to do their part as well to keep afloat.
With so much time off due to COVID-19, Mitchell’s 23-year-old body will be fresh and ready to compete in the Western Conference.
The one thing no one can do is take competitors pedigree away from them with this time off. Mitchell and the Jazz will come into this restart with a different mentality to put the NBA on notice in Orlando.