The young Kings star has already captured the league's attention with his skills defensively and you can watch him in action against the Dallas Mavericks on Sky Sports Arena from 7.30pm on Sunday, as well as on the Sky Sports YouTube page and Sky Sports website.
Sunday 31 October 2021 13:06, UK
Even amongst the very best defenders in the NBA, not many – if any – could hold Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell, two of the best scorers in the Western Conference, to around 35 per cent shooting across consecutive games.
Fewer yet, would have the sheer cheek to tell Lillard he "knows his moves" and then shut him out to 0-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Incredibly, Davion Mitchell is a rookie who is yet to reach double-figures in terms of appearances in his NBA career, but the entire league is already sitting up and taking notice of his lockdown defensive capabilities.
The ninth pick in this summer's draft is the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and it's safe to say his college skillset has already translated to the pros.
It's also why he's already picked up the very cool and respectable nickname: "Off Night".
The Sacramento Kings look to have secured a gem with their latest lottery selection and the next challenge for the young man comes in this week's Sky Sports live NBA stream game on Sunday when he goes up against the offensive Swiss Army knife that is Luka Doncic.
Mitchell has already shutdown some of the best scorers in the game but playing up against Luka should provide probably the stiffest test yet with the Slovenian's outstanding playmaking capabilities as well as his ability to score from all over the floor.
Luka will have his work cut out though, to work his magic against Mitchell.
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell (no relation) said: "(Davion) is as advertised. He's physical, he's quick, he does a lot of solid things defensively that disrupted not only myself but a lot of us. He set the tone defensively."
To do that as a rookie fresh into the league is quite something. He held the Jazz's primary scorer to 2-for-6 on shots directly against him and also was a huge factor in his namesake coughing up five turnovers.
The stats with Lillard are even more stark, especially given that he didn't hit a three-pointer in nine attempts, such was the disruption caused by the young man. And the Portland Trail Blazers star absolutely torched the Kings last season.
But Mitchell is such a speedy mover, and has such quick hands that he can make it difficult for anyone. And he has a confident air about him when speaking.
He told reporters that he spoke to Lillard at Summer League, which the Kings went on to win, and gave him a flavour of how confident he was in his own abilities.
The 23-year-old said: "I've been watching him since – actually, the whole time I was in the tournament, I remember watching Damian Lillard clips all the time.
"I even talked to him after the (preseason) game. I was like, 'I kind of know your moves.' He was like, 'The scouting report don't mean nothing.'
"To guard a guy like that, who can shoot from anywhere, can get downhill and can also play team ball, it's kind of hard to just stop him, so I try to go out there and just slow him down, try to throw some things at him that he's never seen before."
Some of his team-mates already believe he is the best on-ball defender in the NBA, which is a remarkable claim at this nascent stage of Mitchell's NBA career – but you can see why they think that.
"The guys he's guarding, it's nearly impossible to guard any of these top talented players, especially your first time in the league," coach Luke Walton said after the game against the Jazz, which ended in a 110-101 loss for the Kings.
Against Doncic, he comes up against a different proposition and a Dallas Mavericks team who are transitioning to a whole new playing style after Jason Kidd replaced Rick Carlisle as head coach.
Sacramento will try to keep its three-game road win streak alive when the Kings take on Dallas tonight, and the match-up between these could well be a deciding factor in how it turns out.
Watch the game live on Sky Sports Arena, the Sky Sports YouTube channel or on the stream on our website on Sunday night from 7.30pm.
