Donovan Mitchell is the Utah Jazz's Diamond in the Rough

Written by William Richardson Jr.

If you told me that Donovan Mitchell was going to be a better NBA pro than Lonzo Ball in the first month of the season, congratulations, you’re a prophet.

Not many people could have seen this coming. Based on the logic that draft position is “traditionally” supposed to make you a better prospect, Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball are supposed to be leagues better than Donovan Mitchell.

Luckily, that tradition doesn’t apply in Mitchell’s case.

After being traded on draft day to the Utah Jazz, it seems appropriate that the player drafted 13th overall was lucky and landed in a perfect situation. The Jazz, coming off a 51-31 season, lost their franchise player in Gordon Hayward a starter in George Hill and role players in Shelvin Mack and Trey Lyles were looking for a reset with Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles coming to the team. Mitchell’s role was to come in and make an impact, but nobody expected him to score 40 points in a game. And then he did it against the Pelicans on Friday.

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Well, maybe he saw it coming. But to be the first rookie to drop 40 in a game since Blake Griffin in 2011, is something that makes him a diamond in the rough.

Watching Mitchell make plays is like watching a young Lil Wayne before he hit his prime: you don’t know what you’re watching, but you know it’s going to be fun to see what happens next. I don’t know if Donovan will become a great in his craft like Lil Wayne, but I do enjoy seeing a rookie having fun and dominating a game from start to finish.

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Seeing Mitchell’s final line is something out of a video game: 40 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and a +11 player rating for the game is pretty dope.

But I think the biggest surprise is seeing a player get ready to take that leap from deer in the headlights playing with the best players in the world to looking like one of the best players in the world. That may be an overreaction, but if anybody should be mad, it should be the Nuggets for trading him. Because this kid is gonna be in the league for a while. 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game is pretty remarkable for somebody that’s just getting their feet wet.

The sky is the limit for the 21-year-old and he passes the eye test for me. He’s a dark horse for Rookie of the Year, and he’s just getting started.