

Donovan Mitchell contract status Los Angeles, California, USA Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) sits on the scorers table during the closing minute of the LA Clippers win in game six in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Utah finished the regular season with a league-best 52-20 record, only to lose to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals. Usage is typically borne out of necessity, and with the depth of playmaking on the Utah Jazz’s roster in Mike Conley Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles, it’s hard to envision Quin Snyder deciding to hand Mitchell more offensive responsibility at the cost of sacrificing responsibilities for other talented players.While things have been resolved between the two since, there’s renewed concerns that the paring is not indicative of a true NBA championship contender. On the other hand, such an increase in usage rate for Mitchell feels unlikely for the 2021-22 season.

That slight uptick in usage could easily result in a few extra points and a couple of extra assists for Mitchell, which could bump his advanced metrics into MVP territory. Last season, Mitchell’s usage rate was 33.5%: a high figure, to be sure, but lower than Harden’s 36.1% figure from 2017-18. One surefire method for enhancing a player’s statistical output is to increase their usage rate. How can Donovan Mitchell improve his game to reach Harden’s lofty 2017-18 heights? Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell’s usage rate Meanwhile, Harden generated 15.4 WS in his MVP season, a number that dwarfs Mitchell’s 6.2 number from last season.

Harden’s PER in 2017-18 was a robust 29.8, whereas Mitchell posted a 21.3 figure last season. Those are some fairly large discrepancies, and they’re reflected in the advanced statistics. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell contributed 26.4 points per game, 5.2 assists per game, 4.4 rebounds per game and 1.2 steals per game. Harden’s 2017-18 traditional stats included 30.4 points per game, 8.8 assists per game, 5.4 rebounds per game and 1.8 steals per game. In comparing Harden’s 2017-18 MVP campaign to Donovan Mitchell’s 2020-21 season, we do see that the Utah Jazz star has a considerable distance to travel before he reaches peak Harden territory. It was truly one of the most impressive individual runs in NBA history, resulting in one MVP award (and several runner-up finishes). Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell vs 2017-18 James Hardenįrom roughly 2016-17 to 2019-20, the NBA’s most feared beard stretched our understanding of how much offense it was possible for one player to generate as a member of the Houston Rockets. We compared the two All-Star guards in the traditional statistics of points, rebounds, assists and steals, as well as two advanced metrics: Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and Win Shares (WS). To answer that question, we compared Mitchell’s 2020-21 season to James Harden’s 2017-18 season, which was the last instance of a guard winning the trophy. He’s answered just about every question anyone could ask about his game, but at least one remains: how close is he to an MVP caliber player? The immensely talented young guard has made steady improvements to his statistical output in every season he’s been in the NBA so far, culminating in stellar averages of 26.4 points and 5.2 assists per game last season. Donovan Mitchell just might have the talent to do it.
