Source: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
The Utah Jazz let the NBA world know that Donovan Mitchell is their franchise player going forward.
Mitchell wasn’t a top 5 pick in his draft class, but during the three years he has been balling professionally, he damn sure has played like he should be have been the no.1 pick in the NBA Draft. Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the bomb on Twitter timelines that the Utah Jazz and 12th overall pick have agreed to a five-year, $195 million rookie max extension.
The deal is reportedly worth $163 million, and if the all-star scorer meets All-NBA criteria, it could max out $195 million, and based on his play as of late, there is a really good chance that will indeed be the case.
With the Jazz sealing the deal with Mitchell, they keep the core of it’s team intact and look to continue the success the team has been enjoying since drafting SpidaMitchell. The Jazz has nearly averaged 50 wins per 82 games since Mitchell joined the team but has yet to get over the divisional playoffs hump, but keeping Mitchell on board through 2025 could help accomplish that goal.
Mitchell has been making the case as to why he deserved to be rookie of the year over Ben Simmons in 2018 with his electric play and scoring prowess. During the NBA bubble, Mitchell showed out, putting on a scoring clinic while going toe-to-toe with the Denver Nugget’s Jamal Murray in a historic first-round playoff matchup. Each player had a pair of 50-point performances before.
Mitchell’s signing is one of the many headlines that have been made since the NBA’s 2020 free agency began. If anyone is deserving of getting paid, it’s Donovan Mitchell. Before the bubble began, things were looking very rocky in Utah after Defensive Player of The Year Rudy Gobert led to the league closing up shop after he caught COVID-19 after recklessly touching reporters recording devices and seemingly passed it on to Donovan Mitchell.
There were rumors that the two teammates were not really feeling each other, but Mitchell put those rumors to rest and continued his remarkable play once he returned to the court.
We can’t wait to see if Mitchell continues to keep that same energy he had in the bubble when the NBA tips off in December.
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Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
