Chris Paul and Paul George helped convince Donovan Mitchell to stay in the 2017 draft.
Mitchell paid all of his expenses when he traveled to Thousand Oaks last spring to participate in the Creative Artists Agency pre-draft camp because he wanted to maintain his eligibility at Louisville.
"When I left school, my room was still clean, full of stuff," Mitchell said. "I never packed. I was coming back for a third year. In my head, 100 percent, coming back."
Paul and George worked out with Mitchell at the camp and helped convince him he was already good enough for the NBA.
"He's really good," George told reporters recently, calling Mitchell the steal of the draft. "He's a tough, fearless kid. We all saw that working out with him this past summer. I knew he was going to blossom."
Paul and Mitchell still talk several times a week.
"He can really, really play," Paul said. "I'm not surprised by it at all. He can play. He's strong, and he loves the game -- both ends, whether it's offense or defense. I don't know if it's because he's in Utah, everybody's surprised by it. I'm not."
