Baylor point guard Davion Mitchell worked out for about seven or eight NBA clubs in the lead-up to Thursday’s draft, including the Thunder, Warriors, and Spurs, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link).
Mitchell, whose team won the NCAA championship this season, is currently slated as a mid-lottery pick on ESPN’s latest big board. The 6’2″ guard averaged 14.0 PPG, 5.5 APG, 2.7 RPG, and 1.9 SPG across 30 games, all starts, during the 2020/21 season. During his final collegiate season, Mitchell posted a shooting line of .511/.447/.643.
Mitchell was honored as the 2020/21 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, as well as being a two-time All-Big 12 and two-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection.
Here are some other draft-related notes to pass along:
- Oregon guard Chris Duarte is not anticipated to fall beyond the No. 15 pick in Thursday’s upcoming NBA draft, per J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star (subscription required). For the 2020/21 season, the 6’6″ Duarte was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and the All-Defensive Team.
- 6’4″ LSU shooting guard Cameron Thomas, expected to be a first-round selection in the upcoming draft, has thus far worked out for the Pacers, Warriors, Hornets, Grizzlies, Hawks, Knicks and Lakers, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (via Twitter). Hughes adds (Twitter link) that Thomas is also set to work out for the Wizards on July 27. Thomas was a 2020/21 All-SEC selection.
- Beşiktaş center Alperen Şengün, the 2021 Turkish League MVP, has worked out for the Warriors, Kings, Spurs, Hornets, Magic and Thunder, tweets Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The big man is projected as a mid-first-round selection on the current ESPN big board.
I’m fascinated by what happens with Mitchell. I think if he is drafted by the right team he has a real chance to be good. I am not scared about the age thing, I think it’s stupid. We went how many years in the league drafting guys who were juniors and seniors. Guess what, the league was just fine.
Players back then used to drink booze pre game and smoke cigarettes at breaks. Not sure how old NBA affects current NBA since it and college play are both very different now.
And your point? He’s saying that drafting upper classman didn’t matter years before ao why not now. Aside from the trend of 1 and done it doesn’t. Some players need that extra year or two to be nba ready. Whether it’s 2 extra years in college or 3 years sitting on the bench some talents need more time.
And the college game was better too.
x%, maybe.. and JUST MAYBE let me throw this idea on the wall see if it sticks…
That’s because players were sticking around in college long enough to fully develop..THUS THE QUALITY WAS BETTER
GASP
Sometimes simple things go over the heads of people on here..
Yes I should say senior leadership gave college teams a more authoritative look, defining their team as a group, not just a talent show like in AAU. There was a larger variety of what a team could look like if the coaches were not all working from the same playbook and seniors had their say.
From a viewer’s perspective these 22-yos were more important to the college teams as leaders, than to a pro team as maybe phenoms, if good enough.
A final 4 could look like a World’s Fair, every pavillion with a different theme. That peaked in 1977 IMO. But there have been other compromising factors too in the 40-some years since.
Warriors worked out 20 players?
They make it clear that they planned to trade away both picks
What does it mean?
When did they make it clear that they plan to trade away both picks? You work out as many players as possible so you know all your options. It is not that hard to figure out.
I may have to say this all week. I’ll try all caps this time.
THE WARRIORS WILL BE TRADING THEIR 2021 DRAFT PICKS. THEY WILL NOT BURN ANOTHER YEAR OF STEPH CURRY WAITING FOR GUYS TO DEVELOP.
That’s very clear to me at least. Might as well include this.., James Wiseman is on the first plane out of town Friday morning.
Gary, I think you will have to cause the Warriors ain’t trading Wiseman.
Whats the trade?
Picks even after they are selected and can be traded are like one 8M player. Who that costs 8M does what they want and is worth about the value of 7/14? Big stars have been called about Simmons is available and the ask is picks plus Klay. Should they do the star trade? Even reports about Beal sound more like him pressuring WAS to talk to him and make the upgrades he wants not true trade demand. GSW has 4 max deals and the rest are minimums every trade is so complex and impossible. Even most stars rumored to maybe be available are poor fits. The stars GSW really want like Joker and Giannis dont want out right now.
Everyone wants to talk up GSW trades, but the reality is the perfect goldilocks trade just isnt out there. They are likely to make the picks, and just sit on their assets till a star they want is on the block. Could be mid season. Could be next season. Could be the kids turn into the star they need first.
The “Vets” will be Batum at the MLE and a big for the min as a backup and bigger body. Boban? JVM? Chriss? If a deal where they trade out of 14 for a future asset I wouldnt be shocked. Expect at most draft pick shuffle deals, unless a star becomes confirmed available first. The team doesnt want to burn its package on a non star since even part of the assets means you no longer have the pieces for a star.
@Gary
Maybe they’ve identified young guys ready to contribute from day 1.
Such as… Mitchell or Wagner
Don’t they still have to take a player with the pick then use him in a trade with another team?
Isn’t that how it works in the NBA? They don’t just trade a pick for whatever they want.
The Warriors still need to work out players they know other teams will want in a trade.
Yes that and it helps to stockpile information for next year and the year after and so forth when these guys are free agents or trades happen. You’ve got the Intel ready to go because before a trade you can’t bring in a guy who’s in his third year and have him work out for you. But now before the draft you can work out all these guys and have the information.
As far as trading drafted guys I see two things in play. 1. if I already traded next year’s pick I can’t trade this year’s pick, so to speak. But if I draft the guy then I can trade him and it won’t be counted as consecutive year draft picks traded. Make sense?
Then of course #2 is when another team wants my pick, they want a certain player, as you guys said. They won’t make the deal until they know they’ve secured the guy they want with your pick, and so you draft him. At least that’s how I understand things to work.
It means until you actually trade picks you better be ready to make them when you get on the clock! LOLS
Davion Mitchell is 6’0”, per Combine measurement.
Wow really? Probably barefoot so he goes with 6-2 with shoes on. Make sense.
Yea he’s small. But the dude can play. I think at the least he’s a real solid bench guy with 6th man potential.
6’4″ wingspan.
Max upside is Kyle Lowery. Not bad upside, but how many NBA players have there been under 6’1″ that had a real career?
Thomas is all offense now. He can flat out score. He needs coaching to become a better player. If his head is on right. He’s got a bright future.
I have mixed feelings about Duarte. He’s a solid wing. But all I see is shooting. He’s got toughness. All I see is a rotation guy. For Knicks I want more upside in the draft. J Johnson has fallen on some boards. So has Kuminga n Mitchell. The more they fall The easier it will be for Knicks to trade up. To take one (Mitchell, Johnson)
Lotta love from Sengun in Vegas –
His draft line started at 22.5 went to 16 2 weeks ago down to 13 today – He’s interesting w Charlotte at 11 and would make a fun pairing w Hayward/Ball as far as ball movement goes
Ideally Id Like more of a Myles Turner prototype for a Ball pairing but those guys just don’t grow trees – Cha can go many directions and nothing should really be written in pen quite yet, I will be watching a lot of thir games again next year to see the progressions/lack thereof being made