LAS VEGAS—The immediate word from coaches who worked closely with Davion Mitchell in Sacramento painted a picture the Raptors would have loved.
“Nobody works out more than Davion,” read one note on the day the Raptors acquired him. “He is always in the gym … great defence on the ball.”
Speaking with the 25-year-old here this week, when he took part in workouts around ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s Summer League entry that begins games Saturday, it’s obvious Mitchell takes great pride in those attributes.
“I think that you’ve definitely got to have IQ, but a lot of it is gifted abilities,†he said. “I think I have really fast feet. I can stop on a dime better than, I think, anybody in the world. I have really good recovery speed.
“So, a lot of it is God gifted, but also you just have to have effort. You’ve got to play extremely hard and want to do it.â€
That kind of talent, and desire, should make Mitchell a key part of the Raptors defence this coming season. ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ identified a top young backup point guard behind Immanuel Quickley as an off-season priority and got Mitchell in a package from Sacramento for Jalen McDaniels.
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s point-of-attack defence was lacking last season. The six-foot-two guard is hopefully the antidote.
“I think for me over my career playing basketball, every team that I’ve been on, the guy that’s on the ball brings that energy,†Mitchell said. “I think that me putting pressure on the ball up top, a lot of people are going to want to play just as hard. No one wants to stand out by not playing hard. So, me bringing that energy is going to show.â€
If Mitchell is so good and willing to take on big defensive responsibilities and a former lottery pick (No. 9 in 2021) why were the Kings so willing to give him up along with Sasha Vezenkov and two second-round draft picks for McDaniels?
Money was an issue; shedding the salaries took the Kings out of the luxury tax and helped create room to sign DeMar DeRozan. Mitchell was also finding it hard to find a spot in a crowded Sacramento backcourt.
De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are there, Keon Ellis does much of the same thing and the Kings drafted Devin Carter over Mitchell’s spot this summer.
There simply wasn’t any room there. The Raptors were a logical landing spot.
“With a young group I’m going to have more opportunities to be on the court and show what I can do,†he said. “But also just being a leader. I played with De’Aaron Fox, who was kind of like a vet in our league. So, learning things from him, learning things from (Domantas Sabonis). Just trying to bring those things to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.â€
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic sees Mitchell as not only a backup to Quickley but a complementary bit with him, as well. Mitchell has offensive ability — he’s a good finisher at the rim and shot 46 per cent on corner three-pointers last season in Sacramento — that ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ can exploit.
“He proved over the last couple of years at the NBA level that he’s very good as a cutter (and), especially corner threes, that he improved shooting those,†the coach said. “But definitely having another guy who can get your offence set and organized and knowing what we need to run and then doing to communicate with the guys, it definitely helps.â€
Another thing Mitchell brings to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is one of the most unique and creative nicknames of the last few years.
A couple of good friends, graduate assistants during his college career at Baylor, dubbed him Off-Night.
“It came from me having really good nights against really top guards in our league that were projected to be NBA draft picks and they had off-nights, so we just stuck with that,†he said.
“I love it actually. I love it.â€
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