Beat me to it on Mitch. Was going to make a post about him yesterday. Last 8 games he’s really coming on strong:
21.9 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, .6 SPG, 3.3 BPG, 69.4% FG, 66.7% FT with an absurd 12.7% BLK% and 152 ORtg
For anyone not familiar with this kid, he fell to the second round (36th pick) after not playing his freshman year in college. No serious off the court problems, but he transferred to western kentucky, and it seems like college just wasn’t for him. He was a top 10 recruit coming out of high school. Still only 20 years old.
This kid is extremely raw and has already shown to be an impact player. His athleticism just jumps off the screen when you watch him. He’s what I like to call an “anatomy doesn’t make sense” guy. On offense it’s a little more typical where he can catch just about any lob you throw at him. His agility goes beyond that though where he’s able to finish around the rim at odd angles even with his rail thin frame.
On defense as E-Balla noted, that’s where he’s really special. He regularly blocks jump shots which just isn’t normal. In the video below he had 1 play where he bit on a pump fake and his second jump was so quick he still blocked the shot. He also blocks with either hand and does a good job at keeping the ball in play. Many of his stops lead to transition finishes on the other end, and you can see players adjusting their shot when they see him coming. He’s already learning how to control his fouling, too.
Long story short, we expected this guy to spend half the year in the g league which would’ve been totally fine. Instead he continues to improve and hold his own even though he really doesn’t know what he’s doing yet. In 488 minutes with Damyean Dotson (his largest 2 man combo), they’re posting a +1.8 net rating. He’s been a constant in just about every net positive lineup you can find… which are obviously hard to come by on a 12-48 team. So yeah, we’re pretty damn excited about his potential.
