Donovan Mitchell or Devin Booker, who would you rather have 5 years from now

[Godymas]

Both are 25, both have proven their ability to be the #1 scoring option on the #1 team in the west.

Donovan Mitchell this season: 25-5-4 45% FG 35% 3, 9.8 3PA

Devin Booker this season: 25-5-5 45% FG 37.5% 3, 7.2 3PA

[Blaze4G]

Easily Mitchell imo. He has another gear in thr playoffs.

[celticfan42487]

I'd probably go Mitchell due to my perceived ability to play defense better than Booker.

But I wouldn't want either as a #1, they need an MVP next to them. (admittedly I have no idea how the Suns are as good as they are with their roster)

[IAMZOOTED2]

D Book a killer but Spida seems more well-rounded. Each easily capable of going for fiddy, but only Don can lock brothers down. Ok, "lock down" isn't exactly accurate. But he plays D better anyway

[kuclas]

Mitchell better defender. Tilts favor to him. Both really good option 2 (1B) players on their teams.

[Eagle4]

People itt claimed they picked Mitchell yet Booker is winning the poll, interesting.

I chose Mitchell, proven killer come post season which is obviously very valuable.

[Michael Jackson]

Mitchell but mostly because of Louisville bias.

[pj0tr]

Someone want to explain how Mitchell is so much better as a defender than Booker is? Because the stats this year certainly don't say that.

[Asian Celtic]

Booker. I believe Booker's game will age better than Mitchell's when they are 30.

[Dutchball97]

Are people voting Booker on the expectation that he'll be better in the future? Or is it recency bias because of the Suns being in the spotlight at the moment? Because Booker sure as hell hasn't been better up till now.

[pj0tr]

Easily Mitchell imo. He has another gear in thr playoffs.

Booker in his first postseason had 47 in a closeout game against the Lakers, 34 in a closeout game against Denver, and back-to-back 40+ point games in the NBA Finals.

What is your evidence that Mitchell has another gear and Booker does not?

[Godymas]

Easily Mitchell imo. He has another gear in thr playoffs.

Booker in his first postseason had 47 in a closeout game against the Lakers, 34 in a closeout game against Denver, and back-to-back 40+ point games in the NBA Finals.

What is your evidence that Mitchell has another gear and Booker does not?

Donovan Mitchell last 2 playoffs

36 ppg

32 ppg

[RoyceDa59]

Strange, for me I’d prefer Booker.

[schnakenpopanz]

Context matters a lot.
3 years ago Booker was a empty stats guy on a loosing team. But now he has more success than Mitchell may ever achieve.
So it depends on who you pick around him and not him alone.

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[TheZachAttack]

I'm taking Mitchell because I don't like the changes that Booker has made to his game over the past few years and especially this season.

During his best scoring years Booker averaged about 22-23% of his shots inside of 3 feet. This year that percentage has dropped to just 10%. In addition, Booker now shoots almost 40% of his shots between 10-23 feet (midrange) compared to about 30% in his best scoring years. In addition to that he averages another 16% of his shots from the short-mid-range area (3-10 feet) meaning that he now takes about 55% of his shots from low percentage areas of the floor.

He's a decent shooter from these areas 45-48% but the ultimate result is that even if he's a great shotmaker... he's not getting to the line nearly as much (just under 5 times per game versus around 7-7.5 times in his best scoring years).The culmination of all of this is a drop in eFG% to 51.8% and TS% to 56.2% from his best years around 53.5-55% * 58.5-61% respectively.

Maybe this shot selection will work in the playoffs when shotmaking is at a premium, but for now to me it looks like Booker has either regressed or purposefully made changes to become more of a jump shooter that's reliant on making tough midrange shots at the expense of getting to the rim and the free throw line. In fact, he only averages 2.5 shots inside the restricted area per game currently.

Mitchell's shots at the rim are trending downwards as well, but it's as a tradeoff for more 3's as opposed to midrange shots. I will take Mitchell's shot selection including his 4.5 attempts at the rim per game & 10 3's versus Booker's 2.5 shots at the rim and 7 3's instead of the 5 additional midrange shots that Booker takes per game. Mitchell is just as good of a shooter as Booker from the midrange by percentage but more often looks for the better shot than Booker does today.

I don't think Booker is a changed player from "his empty stat days" . Or if I did think that, I would suggest that he plays more like a chucker and someone who would put up empty volume scoring stats without being buoyed by a strong supporting cast and secondary stars around him. In general, I don't really buy into empty stat narratives but for example if you were to switch Beal/Booker teams... I don't think Booker drives better outcomes for the Wizards than what Beal has been able to do. That's not a knock I think the hate players who play with terrible supporting casts get for their team struggling is BS.
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The real answer is actually neither Booker or Mitchell and instead Lavine. Lavine gets to the rim even more often than Mitchell and much more often than Booker. Booker/Mitchell are volume shooters that can hit any perimeter shots and get hot, but Lavine is truly an elite shooter. He not only gets to the rim twice the amount of Booker and is a better finisher then them both but he is a much more efficient jump shooter from most areas on the court as well while providing similar levels of secondary playmaking while also having the lowest usage rate of the 3 (and best able to play both on the ball or off of another primary creator).

So, my real answer is Lavine. Lavine may be 2 years older but I think his game will age better than Booker or Mitchell and even in a world where all transition more towards perimeter and midrange jump shooters I think Lavine has the best jump shot. I will take Lavine over the next 5 years over Booker/Mitchell and likely for another 2-3 years after that.

[johanliebert]

They’ll be 30 five years from now haha I’d rather one now.

[johanliebert]

Context matters a lot.
3 years ago Booker was a empty stats guy on a loosing team. But now he has more success than Mitchell may ever achieve.
So it depends on who you pick around him and not him alone.

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That was just a narrative from nerds who don’t hoop.

[rand]

Easily Mitchell imo. He has another gear in thr playoffs.

Booker in his first postseason had 47 in a closeout game against the Lakers, 34 in a closeout game against Denver, and back-to-back 40+ point games in the NBA Finals.

What is your evidence that Mitchell has another gear and Booker does not?

Mitchell's last two postseasons (17 games) vs Booker's 2021 (22 games)

PPG/TS%
Mitchell: 33.9 ppg / .640 ts%
Booker: 27.3 ppg / .558 ts%

% of FGs assisted
Mitchell: 9.5% 2P / 27.7% 3P
Booker: 32.1% 2P / 56.8% 3P

APG/TO
Mitchell: 5.2 apg / 3.4 to
Booker: 4.5 apg / 3.7 to

OBPM/ORtg
Mitchell: 8.6 OBPM / 124 ORtg
Booker: 0.7 OBPM / 106 ORtg

These stats may not be perfect but they certainly tell a consistent story with Mitchell leading in every single one. Mitchell scored much higher volume at absurdly higher efficiency while being set up far less and producing more assists with a better A/TO ratio. And Mitchell played alongside worse offensive talent too.

[R-DAWG]

Booker. I believe Booker's game will age better than Mitchell's when they are 30.

I agree with this. Undersized guards on the wrong side of 30 don't have the best history. The biggest concern is as they lose a step and/or some athleticism the high percentage shots they are currently making - especially at the rim - become low percentage shots. We are seeing this with Russell Westbrook.

At this point, if I could get either guy on my team at age 25 (for context, I'm a Knicks fan) I would be happy.

[pj0tr]

I'm taking Mitchell because I don't like the changes that Booker has made to his game over the past few years and especially this season.

During his best scoring years Booker averaged about 22-23% of his shots inside of 3 feet. This year that percentage has dropped to just 10%. In addition, Booker now shoots almost 40% of his shots between 10-23 feet (midrange) compared to about 30% in his best scoring years. In addition to that he averages another 16% of his shots from the short-mid-range area (3-10 feet) meaning that he now takes about 55% of his shots from low percentage areas of the floor.

He's a decent shooter from these areas 45-48% but the ultimate result is that even if he's a great shotmaker... he's not getting to the line nearly as much (just under 5 times per game versus around 7-7.5 times in his best scoring years).The culmination of all of this is a drop in eFG% to 51.8% and TS% to 56.2% from his best years around 53.5-55% * 58.5-61% respectively.

Maybe this shot selection will work in the playoffs when shotmaking is at a premium, but for now to me it looks like Booker has either regressed or purposefully made changes to become more of a jump shooter that's reliant on making tough midrange shots at the expense of getting to the rim and the free throw line. In fact, he only averages 2.5 shots inside the restricted area per game currently.

Mitchell's shots at the rim are trending downwards as well, but it's as a tradeoff for more 3's as opposed to midrange shots. I will take Mitchell's shot selection including his 4.5 attempts at the rim per game & 10 3's versus Booker's 2.5 shots at the rim and 7 3's instead of the 5 additional midrange shots that Booker takes per game. Mitchell is just as good of a shooter as Booker from the midrange by percentage but more often looks for the better shot than Booker does today.

I don't think Booker is a changed player from "his empty stat days" . Or if I did think that, I would suggest that he plays more like a chucker and someone who would put up empty volume scoring stats without being buoyed by a strong supporting cast and secondary stars around him. In general, I don't really buy into empty stat narratives but for example if you were to switch Beal/Booker teams... I don't think Booker drives better outcomes for the Wizards than what Beal has been able to do. That's not a knock I think the hate players who play with terrible supporting casts get for their team struggling is BS.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The real answer is actually neither Booker or Mitchell and instead Lavine. Lavine gets to the rim even more often than Mitchell and much more often than Booker. Booker/Mitchell are volume shooters that can hit any perimeter shots and get hot, but Lavine is truly an elite shooter. He not only gets to the rim twice the amount of Booker and is a better finisher then them both but he is a much more efficient jump shooter from most areas on the court as well while providing similar levels of secondary playmaking while also having the lowest usage rate of the 3 (and best able to play both on the ball or off of another primary creator).

So, my real answer is Lavine. Lavine may be 2 years older but I think his game will age better than Booker or Mitchell and even in a world where all transition more towards perimeter and midrange jump shooters I think Lavine has the best jump shot. I will take Lavine over the next 5 years over Booker/Mitchell and likely for another 2-3 years after that.

I respect the argument... but a lot of this is flawed.

Booker hasn't needed to get to the rim as much as he did in the first few years, with Ayton, Bridges, and Crowder in the lineup. Plus, hes no longer the primary ball handler (though he is more than capable), with CP3 being there.

Booker has slowly expanded his game in adding in more 3s, more playmaking, and more 1on1 moves to get his shot off. I'd also argue in the postseason, that Booker's game translates better because the mid-range/long 2s are gonna be the shots that people give you the most the way defense is played.

Lavine might very well be the better player, but I'd question if both Mitchell and LaVine's games will age as their athleticism reduces. Booker's game isn't predicated around athleticism, which both Mitchell and LaVine use extremely well to help them get their shots off.