In five seasons in the NBA, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has turned more than a few heads.
Taken with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, he had averaged just 15.6 points a game in his last season at the University of Louisville.
But he put up 20.5 points a game as a rookie, and in his third season, he blossomed during the postseason.
Mitchell led the NBA with 36.3 points a game in the 2020 playoffs, which included a 44-point, 51-point, and 57-point game in the Jazz’s loss in the first round to the Denver Nuggets.
To prove it was no fluke, he put up 32.3 points a game in the 2021 postseason, along with 5.5 assists per contest.
Now that the Jazz have fallen in the first round of this year’s playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks, there is speculation that they may or should break up their core of Mitchell and center Rudy Gobert.
Many seem to think Gobert should be traded and that Utah should build around Mitchell, especially since he was given a huge contract extension in November 2020.
But is Mitchell a true superstar?
He Has Superstar Qualities
A big part of the definition of a superstar is the ability and willingness to carry a team through long stretches and deliver wins in big playoff games.
Mitchell has certainly done that, and he has shown a penchant for raising his game in big moments.
As a rookie, he dropped 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range in Game 6 of the first round as the Jazz eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony, 96-91.
Donovan Mitchell with 38 points in an elimination game. We're watching the start of a superstar career. (via @nba) pic.twitter.com/ZLNhAlqTE1
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 28, 2018
Last year, in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals versus the Los Angeles Clippers, a more talented team, Mitchell went off for 45 points as the Jazz overcame a big deficit to win, 112-109.
Two nights later, his 37 points powered Utah to a 117-111 victory and a 2-0 lead in the series.
Mitchell flamed out later in the series, and the Jazz bowed out in six games.
This season, he had at least 30 points in 23 of his 67 games.
He is certainly an exciting player and the cornerstone of whatever the Jazz hope to accomplish in the years to come.
DONOVAN MITCHELL. 🔥🔥
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 22, 2022
Mitchell Lacks The Resume Of A True Superstar
The fact that Mitchell failed to put away the Clippers last year after the Jazz took a 2-0 lead, and especially after the Clippers lost Kawhi Leonard to a knee injury, is proof that he’s not a true superstar yet.
Mitchell also hasn’t made an All-NBA team yet, and he failed to carry the Jazz this year to victory versus a less-talented Mavs squad.
Yes, he doesn’t have a true co-star (no, neither Gobert nor Mike Conley count), but one should expect him to have a series victory against either this year’s Mavs, last year’s Clippers, or the 2020 Nuggets, a team that the Jazz held a 3-1 series lead over.
At just 25 years of age, Mitchell can fix this inability to close out playoff series, but if he doesn’t do so soon, his stock may start to plunge.
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