Davion Mitchell’s strengths for the Sacramento Kings have been obvious since the team drafted him in 2021. His defensive tenacity and physicality are off the charts nearly every moment he’s on the court, and that high-level defense was on full display against Steph Curry and the Warriors in the playoffs. On a Kings team that took the league by storm through their dominating offense, Mitchell was far and away their best defender. But the issue for Mitchell and the Kings has always been his shooting ability, and without some real improvement on that end of the court, it seems unlikely he’ll get the minutes his defense may otherwise earn him.
On a team built around De’Aaron Fox and Domas Sabonis, shooting and floor spacing is a premium. To optimize Sacramento’s best players, their teammates need to be able to knock down deep shots, especially open ones. Per NBA.com stats, Mitchell shot 34.6% from three on catch-and-shoot shots last season—decently below the league average of 36.9%—and shot a whopping 31% on three point shots when left wide open (considered to be 6 or more feet from the nearest defender). If Mitchell can’t hit open shots and threaten defenses for leaving him alone, the Kings have plenty of shooters who can—and given that Davion played just 203 minutes last season with Fox, it’s clear the Kings think that it is always best to pair Fox with consistent shooters.
Across his collegiate career at Auburn and Baylor, and in his time with the Kings, Mitchell has had only one season where he shot better than 33% from deep; his 2020-21 junior season at Baylor, when he helped lead the Bears to the National Title, shot 51% from the floor and 44.7% from deep, and earned himself the 9th overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft. Across his two years in the NBA, Mitchell is just 164 of 517 from three (31.7%). While inconsistent shooting takes nothing away from his defensive brilliance, as the Kings added more shooters to the roster last offseason, Mitchell’s playing time decreased; from 27.7 minutes per game as a rookie down to 18.1 per game as a sophomore under Mike Brown.
Mitchell’s defensive excellence makes the Kings a better team. His teammates don’t hesitate to speak on his impact. He had strong success at finishing at the basket last year, shooting 66.3% in the restricted area and 66.9% on all layup attempts. And he has really strong stats in games where he either earned or (through injuries) got a ton of playing time; in 4 games where he played 30 or more minutes, he averaged 15.3 points, 4 assists, and 2.5 rebounds on a whipping 70.6% from the field and 63.2% from deep. But when the Kings played the Warriors in the playoffs, even Davion’s defensive hounding of Curry wasn’t enough to keep his minutes; Mitchell shot just 41% from the field and 26% from deep in the series, and after playing an average of 23 minutes per game in Games 1 through 5, Mitchell got just 19 minutes across the final two games as Coach Brown opted to go with Terrence Davis instead.
To his credit, Mitchell knows his role with the team is tied to his shooting ability. Deuce and Mo interviewed Davion early last month, where he talked about spending the offseason working with Brandon Payne, Curry’s shooting coach.
Davion Mitchell has spent the offseason working with Steph Curry's shooting coach Brandon Payne.
He got to work right after the season ended.
"If I was a better shooter, I would have been on the floor more, you know what I'm sayin? Game 6 and Game 7." pic.twitter.com/BbhQXsru9K
— Deuce Mason (@DeuceMason) August 7, 2023
If he can take a real step forward as a shooter, the Kings will be much better off for it—they’ll be able to play their best defender in more minutes, and more minutes with Fox and Sabonis without sacrificing their floor spacing. But until he can start hitting his catch-and-shoot threes—at least the open ones—at a stronger clip, his minutes won’t live up to his defensive ability. The Kings, and the stars they’ve built around, are not a team that can play non-shooters.
If there is one person who can improve their shooting through effort, consistency, and practice, it’s Davion. I like the way he approaches the task as one of learning from others and then practicing what they are trying to teach.
Given his work ethic, if real improvement is possible, there is no question that Davion will make it happen. It’s not as if his mechanics are a mess.
It’s possible that he’ll never get his numbers to league-average, but if he can get to at least 35% consistently, he’s going to get minutes. Mitchell’s defensive play may be the thing I enjoy the most about watching the Kings. His ability to get to where a ballhander intends to go before the guy has even decided is supernatural, and his ability to re-engage after getting beaten is as good as it gets.
What about Ellis replacing Davion?
The improvement he needs to make to reach 35% is marginal. He would have needed to make 6 more of his 197 attempts last year. That could be remedied by taking more shots from better spots or having slightly better form. I think Mitchell could benefit from being more aggressive on offense overall. Teams would leave him wide open at the free throw line at times last year and he would continue to look to move the ball instead of shooting. With a chance to grow in his same role and minutes as last year, I expect Davion to have more impact for the Kings.
He really needs to find a reliable outside show if we wants to remain in the league. Guards that can’t shoot really don’t have a place anymore.
I keep reminding myself of Kyle Lowry’s career arc. The guy couldn’t hit the side of a barn when he came into the league, but he persisted and eventually became an excellent two way player. Maybe there is hope for Mitchell yet.
If not…this guy just became available and the Kings definitely need a 3rd PG.
We still have one open roster spot left, right? This would be a nice get if Monte were to pick him up.
from your comment: “Guards that can’t shoot really don’t have a place anymore.”
and then Marcus Smart drills a 3, turns around to the Kings bench and taunts them as the Celtics roll on to smack around the Kings for the 9th consecutive year.
Marcus Smart was traded to Grizzlies
Smart already did that to the Kings last year.
Guess who has a better career 3pt%, Smart or Fox?
It’s a good thing Fox has an excellent mid-range game and a keen ability to attack the basket. Mitchell has not shown he’s reliable at any of the three levels of scoring…yet. There is time.
Davion works hard and if hard work = better shot percent then he will improve. His mechanics look fine. On the other hand, if hard work does not always result in a better percentage, then trouble.
There are quite a few examples of poor shooting PG’s who got better- Lowry and Kidd for example.
At the same time, some teams are able to hide a poor shooting PG who plays D: Pat Bev for example.
The Kings are not overly strong at the other 4 positions to hope that ignoring his woes will be ok. If Fox hit 45% of his threes, then ok.
I believe that he will marginally improve and the coaching staff can surround him with complementary players.
Cam Payne will want minutes. The Delly role is too small for him.
My point was that Cam Payne may even beat out Mitchell for minutes. Also, I agree with you on Lowry and Kidd, but they are also likely hall of fame players. Bev, on the other hand, was actually a solid outside shooter. His career of 37% is even better than Monk’s. He was also an underrated rebounder.
My only point was, if Mitchell doesn’t do anything other than play defense, he won’t be in the league for long. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist comes to mind.
“play defense” is an understatement when it comes to Davion. Lebron James looked at him like he was an alien after he drew that charge from Lonnie Walker. his on-ball defense is the best in the building.
Best in the building? I like Davion and all, but we may need to take off the purple colored glasses.
Last season 30 players got all-nba defense votes, including the likes of PJ Tucker, Chris Paul, DeAnthony Melton, and even Delon Wright. Davion did not get a single vote. Anthony Davis got 9 votes.
Payne is an interesting wrinkle. He’s never played starters’ minutes, but he is definitely productive when he’s in.
His deal with San Antonio as $6.5 mil, and I’d think he’d be amenable to a one-year deal, although given that he’s twenty-nine, a couple of years would be all right.
You can come to *snorts* SACRAMENTO, and play for a, WTF?! Contender?!
The world is most-certainly on its ass and upside-down.
I see you Davion. Picking Steph’s brain so you can pick his pocket during the games.
More like Davioff Mitchell, amirite? Hello? Is this thing on? Is anyone out there?
When I look at Davion Mitchell, I see a Kings player that I admire and respect – dude plays the game hard and that is a joy to watch.
Hitting the 3 is important for Davion not just because it’s a 3 point League – it’s because the other Point Guard skills – passing, driving the lane, creating scores are also not strongly in his wheelhouse.
He doesn’t need to be Jason Kidd or John Stockton, but I’d like to see Davion quarterback the offense better. Take his man off the dribble and score or dish better. That would make his 3 point game less a focus of his limitations.
Off Night has an elite skill defensively, but expanding his PG skills and his 3FG% are needed to expand his playing time.
If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be because he didn’t put in the practice time, that’s for darn sure.
I’m hoping it happens. I love watching the guy take the court.
I agree with a lot of this, but he’s at nearly 3:1 for his career in his assist/turnover ratio, and ran a championship team at Baylor if I remember correctly. He’ll always be at something of a disadvantage at his size, but he’s not a negative running an offense. If he can hit a few more threes, he’d spread the defense a bit more, which makes finding your teammates even easier.
His ability to be a rotation guy relies on it.
Finding any shot is necessary for his career.
I’m pretty sure this was an article last year. I love Davion, but he’s got to figure this out or else he’s going to be a situational player. He and Kessler Edwards are both a little offensive capability away from being solid rotational to starter level players.
This is one of the reasons I’m up on this year. There are plenty of realistic scenarios where the Kings are better this year. Mitchell finding a shot is one of them.
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