Welcome Davion Mitchell
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Livinthedream
All-Star
I love Mitchell already. The concern for most is about roster balance.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I mean, if I were going to replace an All-Defensive team player, it would help to get another future all-defensive player back for him.
Already looking forward to how Mitchell's leadership style meshes with what the Kings roll out there. Kings have a bunch of nice guys who like each other. Fox, Hali, Barnes... There's a lot of good communication when things are going well, but you rarely see anyone barking at anyone else. Arguably, there isn't enough player-player accountability.
Mitchell will absolutely BARK. He WILL light into a teammate he thinks isn't bringing it. Will he do that as a rookie? To whom? If he does, will that fly?
Mitchell will absolutely BARK. He WILL light into a teammate he thinks isn't bringing it. Will he do that as a rookie? To whom? If he does, will that fly?
Yes, he’s working on it. We know Hield is def on the table now. I think the moves come only when the deal is right.
kb02
All-Star
The coverage is a bit smaller, since Mitchell will be able to go 1 to 3 while Simmons can go 1 to 5. But I think what makes him really appealing is his ability to penetrate, dish, and score on all three levels. There may be some overlap between Mitchell and Maxey with Mitchell providing more defense and more facilitation while Maxey is more of a scoring guard, but if Philly is looking for a PG, Mitchell would be it. Maybe give Mitchell some time to shine before proposing a trade to Philly.
As for the whole can Mitchell guard the KD types? Or Giannis? The answer is no, no one can. But Mitchell will be able to get into opposing players bodies with his footwork and quick hands. That's likely what KD is referring to.
And if Mitchell is on the roster long term with Fox and Hali, I think Fox and Halli's defense will jump levels. Mitchell is going to be pestering the f*ck out of them in practice. Get those competitive juices flowing. They'll pester back. The team benefits long term.
Mike Schmitz loves Davion Mitchell. Most pundits love the pick.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
It is crazy. The only people who seem to not like the pick are Kings fans.
I get why. It’s the Kings. I mean I was going to be upset if we took Sengun mainly because we have needed wings for a long time and we were going to have a choice between some potentially good defending wings. And we took a small guard when are best 3 guys are now guards and our best backup is probably Wright. I get it.
But Mitchell is going to be a difference maker. I think over time as the roster is balanced out and people get to see Mitchell play, they will come around
I think anyone who watched a lot of college tape loved that Baylor backcourt. They were fun to watch and played tough every game.
But is Mitchell really a lead guard at the NBA level? If he really is a PatBev/Smart type player that needs to have another playmaker on the floor then you've got a 1-2 position defender who can't really run the point full time. That works if Hali is the defacto PG or if you want to run out a small guard lineup of Fox and Mitchell for stretches but it doesn't help Davion's long term prospects if he can't really man the point for you.
I'll wait and see how things play out, but personally Mitchell wasn't a top 20 prospect for me and the fit makes things worse. If there's a Simmons for Fox trade things make a bit more sense as Mitchell could start and guard PGs but not have to play PG. Otherwise, right now the Kings have:
C Metu/Quetas/Jones
PF Barnes/Bagley/Woodard
SF ???
SG Haliburton/Hield/Ramsey/James
PG Fox/Wright/Mitchell
With Holmes and Davis as early Bird and restricted early Bird FAs respectively, Harkless & Whiteside as UFAs and Guy & King as 2-way FAs
If no other moves are made, you pretty much have to run out:
C Bagley
PF Barnes
SF Hield
SG Haliburton
PG Fox
with a bench of Mitchell, Davis (if resigned), Woodard, and Quetas or Metu
This team desperately needs some wings (one starter and some depth), a trade to clear out guards, and a starting center.
Resigning Holmes will take care of one of those issues, if he can be had for a reasonable price. I don't know that trades of Hield and Bagley (and/or possibly Barnes) will bring back the wings this team needs.
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I think DM can be a lead guard, yes. More to the point (haha), Ty, Fox and Wright can all play that role and I see no reason to think Mitchell would ever be out there without at least one of them. Put differently, as of this moment the Kings have only 2 rotation guards who CAN'T run the point (Buddy, Terence) and there's a decent chance that neither one is in Sacramento in two months. Finding DM suitable backcourt mates won't be a problem.
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kb02
All-Star
Yes. I think he can. It's kinda like asking whether Bobby J could've been a lead guard? Yes, he could've been.
ApolloDaGod
G-League
Not the answer but potentially a good peice. Is Walton still the coach? I got comments deleted from here by admins a year ago cuz they disagreed with my stance...and here we are.
Dongoodboy
Bench
Yeah they also loved when we drafted JJ, Giles and FR3. In fact I never see Mike Schmitz talked bad about any prospect. They need to be like that to get all the intel and interviews.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Feel like we’re doing Davion a disservice by comparing him to BJax. He’ll be Bobby Jackson out of the gates then he’ll get better and better as time passes.
kb02
All-Star
Comparing a player to Bobby J is a compliment in my book.
Folsomkingsfan
Starter
Because it’s a confusing pick. We took a guy with minimal upside that will most likely be relegated to 6th man to try and win now when this team isn’t in a position to win a thing. Maybe the 3 guard line up works, but I’m struggling to envision it right now.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Minimal upside?
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
A certain faction of KINGS fans. The ones that seem to love all players that aren’t on the KINGS roster and hate most of or all the ones that are.
Erm...yeah, no. Nobody gets their comments deleted for having the wrong stance.
And, see, I can go back and see the comments that were deleted, and you know what? Your comments were deleted because you were flagrantly taunting the board. Please, don't do that again. (Also, it was TWO years ago but maybe the whole pandemic year is easy to gloss over.)
MizzouKing
Starter
THIS. There should be some ripple effects drafting at this position that go beyond Davion's obvious individual talent.
True, the fit isn't immediately obvious, but I'm inclined to trust Monte until he gives me a reason not to.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
Quite honestly, once the stupid trade with LAL finally never happened — I was so relieved that I wasn’t going to be upset w/ whomever they drafted last night.
Trading away Buddy to the hated LAL while actually acquiring KK would have sent me over the edge as a fan.
Everyone here knows how I feel about the Bearded Hag and his game. Well, I’d take 2 bearded hags before ever seriously considering KK.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
You're making a lot of questionable assumptions here. That his "upside" is minimal. That DM (hopefully!) being more NBA-ready than most is what drove his selection ("win now"). That a #9 pick starting his career as a 6th man would be some sort of indictment of the pick.
I'm skeptical of all those takes.
But here's one bottom line. In his final year in college, Davion Mitchell ran the team effectively, played absolutely elite defense, shot 45% from 3 (on almost 5 attempts per), and led his team to a championship.
If his Naismith-DPOY game, 40+% 3-pt shooting, and leadership translate into the NBA for 30 mpg, whether as a starter or off the bench, what's the upside/6th-man/win-now problem?
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
Only confusing to you because you don’t agree with it. It sure isn’t a confusing pick to Monte McNair or the numerous pundits that also liked it.
I guess those of us that disagree with you can label your reaction to the pick as “confusing”, eh?
Putting aside the fact that you just assumed Walton would do something logical, what on earth are you talking about? Even the average SG will be bigger than him. The issue with Mitchell's size isn't that he can't guard PGs, it's that if we're running out a 3 guard lineup with Fox and Hali or if we're sticking him on the other teams best perimeter player (which others have said is the whole point) he's likely going to be guarding bigger players who have a height advantage that helps them shoot over him. Height advantage doesnt only matter for post ups, which is what YOU suggested.
