WEBVTT - NBA Player Rankings #12-11: Donovan Mitchell & Kevin Durant 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:17.080 The volume. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.239 the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.560 are having a great week. It feels amazing to be 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:26.000 back from Alaska. Just an absolutely unbelievable trip. If you 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.080 stick around to the end of the show today, I'll 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:29.960 tell you guys about it, just because it just I 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.760 can't imagine it going any better than it did. You 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:34.760 know how, anybody who has ever been to Alaska knows 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:36.320 there's a little bit of a crap shoot with weather, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:37.720 and we just got so lucky and I got to 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.080 see so many cool things. I'll talk about that trip 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:41.680 more at the tail end of the show today. We're 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.479 getting back into our player rankings with number twelve and 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.440 number eleven, the beginning of a segment of this list 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.519 that was far and away the hardest segment for me 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:53.640 to rank. But we're getting to two more players today. 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:55.160 You guys know the joke before we get started to 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:56.720 subscribe to the Hoops and Not YouTube channel so you 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:58.560 don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.600 Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss show announcement. 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:03.200 SOTI forget about a podcast feed where you get your 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.480 podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:07.120 you leave a rating and a review on that front. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.560 Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:12.680 and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. The last, 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:14.240 but not least, if you guys want to get questions 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.160 into the mail bags, we're doing Friday mail bags geared 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:21.600 around the player rankings here for the next month or so. Again, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:23.280 if you disagree with the ranking, if you think a 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:25.760 guy should be higher, lower, should have made the list, 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:27.800 shouldn't have made the list, whatever it is you disagree with, 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.600 just lay that out as concisely as you can. A 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:34.040 little elevator. Pitch in a comment under this video that 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.600 says mail bag with a colon, and we'll get to 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:40.440 it in our mail bags at on Fridays throughout the 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:45.199 remainder of this list. All right, let's talk some basketball, 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:49.520 all right, So this was by far the hardest section 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.920 of this list for me to rank. Kawhi Leonard and 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.480 Joel Embiid are very clearly at the bottom. Right, Like, 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.920 we all know that Kawhi can outplay the top players 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:00.720 in the league. We saw him do it against Jokichen 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:02.680 in Game two, if I remember correctly, in that first 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.760 round series, he's capable of reaching that level. We know 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:08.240 Joelmbi when he's healthy, could very well be one of 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.799 the top two or three players in the entire NBA, right, 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.440 But they both obviously have this injury history that pushes 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.079 them towards the bottom, and Kawi is obviously in better 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:18.880 shape now as someone who was able to finish his 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.519 last playoff run, so he got the nod for number thirteen. 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.079 Joel was at number fourteen. That was pretty straightforward, right, 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:29.799 But there is an incredibly minuscule gap between number twelve 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.520 on this list and number five. For example, I'll just 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.560 go ahead and spoil today's rankings. I have Donovan Mitchell 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.000 at number twelve and Kevin Durant at number eleven. We'll 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.639 obviously do deep dives into both of those players today. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.640 Donovan Mitchell was just the best player on the second 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:47.600 best team in the league this year. He averaged thirty 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.880 points per game on fifty seven percent true shooting in 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.520 this year's playoff run. He made first team All NBA 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:56.840 and he finished fifth and MVP voting. He had a 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.840 forty eight point playoff game, Andy forty three point playoff 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.040 game just in this last playoff front and there isn'take 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.080 case for him to be above of anybody that I 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.200 have ahead of him on this list. For me, at 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:12.400 least personally, I think you could argue him to be higher. 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:15.000 But for me, I couldn't find a case to move 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:19.840 him up from twelve, top five in MVP voting, first 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.800 Team All NBA, and I struggle to put him higher 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.200 than twelve. That's the nature of this part of the list. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:32.760 And Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. KD catches a ton 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.400 of crap online and I disagree with most of it. 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.800 I don't blame him for what went wrong in Phoenix. 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.440 He was getting crap online for not leading his team 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.960 in shot attempts since twenty eighteen. I don't view that 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.640 as a negative for KD. Of you, that is a positive. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.560 We're going to talk about that today. I think he's 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.080 going to massively improve Houston's ability to compete for a championship, 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.440 and I think he firmly meets the criteria of this tier, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.480 which again this tier, the criteria is a player who 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.760 on any given night can outplay the very best players 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:04.880 in the world. They just struggle to consistently get to 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:09.680 that level. Kdi very much is in that tier, and 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.440 like I don't have him in my top ten. It's 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:17.160 just a testament to how deep this league is. The 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:22.080 top twelve is completely insane. I moved the names around 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.920 a half dozen times. Multiple guys went up and down 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.880 several spots in different versions of this list before I 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:33.160 landed where I landed. The point is, we are very 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.479 much splitting hairs at this point, and if you disagree 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:41.080 with me and you go, Jason, I have KD at five, Jason, 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.880 I have Donovan Mitchell at five. I know I'm going 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.520 to argue against it, but I'm not. There's such a 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:51.600 small gap there that I think it's at least defensible. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:57.039 The guys that I have above these guys at this 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.839 point in the list, I just viewed having a more 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:05.200 liable night tonight trade. So maybe an apex athlete who 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.000 brings insane motor every night, or an offensive engine. You 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.920 guys know how I feel about offensive engines. I don't 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.919 think Durant or Mitchell kind of fall into that specific category. 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.600 Guys who make offense easier for everyone on the roster 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.520 every single night. Or a defensive monster, like a guy 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:23.120 who's just an absolute pain in the ass athlete with 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.200 super long arms that no one can deal with on 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.200 the defensive end of the floor. That just sets a 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.279 super high floor for everybody. Those are the kinds of 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.359 guys that I ended up favoring over Donovan Mitchell and 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.919 Kevin Durant. But these gaps are incredibly close. I just 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:40.440 wanted to emphasize that from five to twelve, I mean, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:44.000 you could just shake it up and like a bunch 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.080 of yachtzi dice and just kind of see how it lands, 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.320 and you're gonna be able to make a decent case 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:52.040 for that rank. But let's get started. But number twelve, 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:57.320 Donovan Mitchell UFC three nineteen is blowing back to the 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.240 Windy City for the first time in six years. Check 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:01.760 out the fight card and get in in all the 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.440 action at DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.520 the UFC. Drink is to Plus. 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For additional terms and 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:20.560 responsible gaming resources, see DKNG, dot co slash audio last 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:22.280 year in review for Donna, and he played in seventy 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.760 one games. That was his healthiest season since twenty nineteen, 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.240 which was his second year in the league. He averaged 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.640 twenty four points, five rebounds, and five assists, one point 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.480 five stocks, forty four percent from the field, thirty seven 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.480 percent from three to eighty two percent from the line 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.160 fifty three percent, and effective field goal percentage that's just 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.360 field goal percentage waited for threes in fifty eight percent 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.760 in true shooting. Really stacked up the accolades this year. 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:49.400 He finished his sixth consecutive All Star appearance, first Team 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:53.160 All NBA in fifth, and MVP voting for me like 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:58.000 a classic example of why box score watching is so silly, Donovan, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.880 his numbers were down across the board year over year. 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.760 Points per game down, rebounds per game down. It's this 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.080 per game down, field goal percentage down, block steals down, 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.240 three point percentage down, free throw percentage down. Everything was 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.760 down year over year, and he was flat out better 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.160 this year than he was the previous year. Keep that 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:21.840 in mind when we get to KD and we start 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.760 talking about his field goal numbers, because it's the same 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:25.880 kind of idea that I think a lot of people 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.760 get hung up on now. To be clear, yes, box 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.760 score production is an important manifestation of how you're producing 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.280 for a basketball team, but it is not the only 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:40.720 manifestation of how well a basketball player is playing. The 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:45.240 evidence is in the play type data. Even though Donovan 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.760 Mitchell's individual statistics weren't as impressive as the previous season, 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.560 when Donovan did more with the basketball and when Donovan 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.080 had you know, he's running a lot more pick and 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.760 roll every game. He's just he was just more on 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:04.480 the right. Even though his numbers came down, even though 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.240 his individual statistics weren't as impressive, Donovan did things that 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:13.920 helped the Cleveland Cavaliers as a team score more points 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:18.600 just shot creation data. In twenty twenty four, Donovan ran 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.800 one thousand and sixty two pick and rolls, ISOs and 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.839 post ups including passes, got one thousand and eighty three points. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.120 That's one point zero two points per possession, which is 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:30.200 decent FIR star guard, but it's nothing to write home about. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.839 In twenty twenty five, he ran one thousand, three hundred 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.079 and sixteen pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups, obviously 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.840 higher volume with him being healthier, but fourteen hundred and 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.960 five points. That's one point zero seven points per possession. 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.120 That's five points better per one hundred possessions than he 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.960 was the previous year. That puts him into an elite 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:56.480 tier as a high volume shot creator. The Cleveland Cavaliers 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:00.520 functioned better as an offense with Donovan Mitchell this year 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.920 than they did last year, even though his individual scoring 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.320 volume in percentages went down. So the question is how 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.240 how did Donovan Mitchell help the Calves this year compared 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.680 to last year? And the short answer is he bought 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.360 him to what Kenny Atkinson was trying to do with 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.400 that Calves offense, getting them to play more fast paced, 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.880 more in transition, more ball in player movement. It required 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.800 quicker decision making, and most importantly, it required Donovan to 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.280 give up the basketball more and to play more in 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.240 the flow of the offense, and he did just that. 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.880 Here's a simple stat to demonstrate how much Donovan Mitchell 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.720 gave up the basketball last year premba dot COM's tracking 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.400 data in twenty twenty four, Donovan Mitchell averaged six point 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:49.880 three minutes of possession time per game. In twenty twenty five, 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.559 That dropped from six point three to four point nine. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.440 Another way to put it is, Donovan's time of possession 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:01.920 dropped by twenty two point three per year over year. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:09.920 That's a significant a decrease there. And yet despite a 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.680 twenty two point three percent decrease in his time of possession, 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.200 his scoring volume only dropped by less than ten percent, 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.320 a little over nine percent, from twenty six point six 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.920 points per game to twenty four points per game. He 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:29.160 basically refined his role to fit exactly what the team needed. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.720 He took a step back and allowed the finally healthy 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.440 version of Darius Garland to do more of what Darius 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.800 does best, which is initiate the offense with his drivele penetration, 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.120 and that advantaged creation just greased the wheels in so 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.640 many different ways for the Cavs as we know. And 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:49.520 then in shorter bursts when the situation called for it, 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:55.120 Donovan stepped in and was super aggressive. He actually shot 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.840 the ball, or I should say, passed the ball less 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:02.480 per touch last year than the year before, So he 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.040 actually passed the ball less when he had it. But 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.360 that was what the team needed. The team needed him 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.760 to seed control of a large portion of the offense 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.200 to Darius in a larger extent than he did in 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.040 previous years, and for him to win, he had the 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.479 ball do what Donovan Mitchell does best, score the damn basketball. 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.680 The team needed him to be a score, and so 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.440 he took back some of his touches and refined and 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.800 simplified his approach to being more of a score. In short, 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.280 he cut down on his touches but focused on what 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.240 he does best and that led to a explosive scoring 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:41.360 season for the Cavs offense. Donovan was lethally efficient in 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.760 pick and roll this year. He's actually more efficient as 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.640 a scorer in pick and roll this year than he 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.160 was the year before, despite his shooting percentages being down 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.920 across the board. Overall, he was one of only six 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.840 players in the entire NBA last year to attempt at 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.840 least five hundred shots in pick and roll and to 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.880 get over a point per shot. He did this by 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.640 shooting fifty percent on twos. Again, that's a big part 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.400 of that shot making and pick and roll right fueled 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:09.560 by a deadly floater. He shot fifty two percent on 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.160 over one hundred and fifty floaters this year. Donovan was 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.320 one of only eight players in the NBA to attempt 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.520 at least one hundred and fifty floaters and make more 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:17.880 than half of them. We're gonna talk about it more 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.080 and when we get to here in just a second. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.960 But he had a really useful set of counter moves 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:26.760 in the mid range, and he's always had these, but 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.080 he's really refined it into a super efficient part of 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:30.679 his game. We'll get to that in a second. Then 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.600 he shot thirty six point four percent on pull up threes, 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:36.720 and that's a very good number because of the efficiency 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.080 boost that you get from that three point shot. That 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.840 was one point zero nine points per pull up three 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:45.760 in pick and roll. That's very good. Classic for Donovan 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:47.600 Mitchell is a combination of what we've talked about with 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.880 a lot of the athletic guards in the league. The 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:54.000 combination of that downhill burst mixed with the pull up 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.960 jumper that can get defenders either on their heels or 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.280 he can easily pull up or up on their toes, 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:01.240 or he can ease the league go past them. And 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.160 again this is where the mid range counters come in. 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.120 Donovan had this ridiculous over the top gather, I should 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.840 say has. He's had it for years. This ridiculous over 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.480 the top gather that he would pull over a defender 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.480 that would step underneath him, and he'd step into a 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.840 floater out of that, and then he was really nasty 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.640 with that eurostep. Those little moves in the mid range 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.000 allowed him to quickly get separation, almost like John Morant esque, 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.760 with his ability to quickly get separation in that short range, 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:27.960 that five to ten foot range where he could get 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.000 to an easy shot that he could make over fifty 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.840 percent from of the time, which removed some of that 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.600 variants and gave him a reliable piece of shot making 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:40.920 that gave him the ability to be one of only 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.680 six players in the NBA a shot over fifty percent 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.240 pick and roll on a massive volume with that or 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.520 over a point per possession, I should say on that 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.800 massive volume of over five hundred attempts in pick and roll. 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.280 He also scored really efficiently off the ball. Donovan got 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.600 one point one one points per possession and spot up 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:04.440 situations fueled by him shooting a crazy forty seven percent 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.360 on unguarded catch and shoot threes and then some really 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.040 good close out attacking when guys would chase him off 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:14.760 the line. The biggest boost for Donovan Mitchell on this list. 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.600 The reason why he is higher than many of the 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.440 guys who scored more points per game than him this 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.640 year is the simple fact that Donovan is one of 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:28.320 the best playoff risers in the NBA. Darius Garland, who 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.120 did not make my list this year, he hits many 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:35.120 of the similar markers that Donovan hits that we've talked 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:39.320 about in this segment. Darius was excellent shooting in pick 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:43.480 and roll, had an excellent floater. He shot like forty 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.920 three percent unpull up threes in pick and roll. Darius, 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.000 I would actually argue, in terms of just the regular season, 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.440 is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell because of 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:57.960 his ability to consistently cut teams to pieces with his 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.160 dribble penetration in pass effectively out of it. It really 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.200 greased the wheels for this Caps team. Their offense was 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:05.760 actually four points better per one hundre possessions this year 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:11.080 when Darius was on versus off, but consistently every single year, 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.600 whether it be because of health or him struggling in 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:18.040 that environment, or a combination of both, Darius just kind 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.560 of falls apart in the postseason relative to his regular 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:26.320 season impact. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell is like straight up one 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.240 of the very best playoff scorers of this era. Once 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.760 again last year, thirty points per game in the postseason 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:38.760 on fifty seven percent true shooting. For six consecutive playoff 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:44.200 runs spanning forty seven games, Donovan Mitchell is good for 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.880 thirty five and five on fifty nine percent truugh shooting 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:52.680 in the playoffs. To put it very simply, he is 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:57.040 one of the very best playoff scorers in the entire NBA, 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.040 and that puts him in this special tier of players 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.440 who is capable of out playing any top tier superstar 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.480 on any given night, which is what put him in 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.440 this grouping now, defense has always been a bit complicated 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.720 for Donovan, But I actually think Donovan's made real strides 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.560 over the last couple of years. He's ever been good 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.840 on the ball. He competes there better than he used to. 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.359 You guys remember how bad it was in Utah. Was 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.920 just a disaster on the ball there. But nowadays he 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:28.840 still struggles a little bit, even though he competes better 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:30.479 because he can get too handsy. He commits a lot 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.439 of fouls. He's just overly physical on the ball. As 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.000 a defender, but he's made major strides over the last 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.720 couple of years as an off ball defender. The main 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:40.960 thing is is it's an excellent opportunity for him to 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.480 weaponize that trait that he loves to be physically aggressive 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.439 and go after the basketball well on the ball that 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.760 can give up drill penetration too easily. Off the ball, 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.560 it actually is useful for him digging down on driving 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.280 lanes or digging down on cutters, and so Donovan has 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.119 gotten really good at like digging down into the lane 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.960 attacking the back basketball, but having the foot speed and 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.960 the fundamentals in terms of his closeouts to get back 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.080 out to the perimeter to a shooter, and that's made 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.119 him a very good help and recover player. So as 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.159 a result, like the Cavs defense was actually better this 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.679 year with Donovan Mitchell on the ball versus off and 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:20.280 it's given him the ability to meet that mandatory minimum 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.600 which we always talk about, like in order to be 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.280 one of these guys in this tier, you have to 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.199 be able to at least fill a role on a 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.800 team as a useful defender. You have to be able 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:35.840 to do something that helps your team on that end 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.480 of the floor, and Donovan has found that role off 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.119 the ball. He can dig down into the lane, attack 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.000 the basketball, and he can recover out to the perimeter 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:49.000 with really quality closeouts for a star player at that position. 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.199 You look at Darius Garland and we talked about it. 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.800 Like Darius Garland, He's not a better score than Donovan Mitchell. 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.159 I don't even think he's a better playoff offensive player 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:03.080 overall than Donovan Mitchell. But in the regular season, Darius 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.080 Garland is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell. But 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.959 even in that context, the Cavs defense was five points 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.680 worse per one hundred possessions with Darius on versus off, 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.600 and it undercut a lot of his success. It's a 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:17.520 big part of why he didn't make this list this year. 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.600 In addition to the playoff struggles that we talked about, 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.840 Donovan has become a useful defender for a good defense. 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.800 That was the mandatory minimum that he needed to reach 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.880 as a small guard and he got there. So now, 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.480 why isn't Donovan Mitchell higher on this list? Jason, He's 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.359 fifth in MVP voting, he made First Team All NBA. 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.080 Why is he all the way down at twelve? The 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:41.960 big thing for Donovan is I just don't think he 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:46.560 has enough of that like game management, flow of the 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.639 game piece, that offensive engine piece that you need to 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.800 compete with the elite offensive players that are above him 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:56.760 on this list. So let's look at last year. In 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:01.360 the playoffs, the injuries start to stack up. Darius Garland's 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:03.719 got the bad toe. He's not moving as well as 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:05.320 he used to, He's not cutting the defense up the 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.520 way he used to. He's sitting out for entire games. 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:10.920 A lot of their shooters go cold in large part 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.200 because of that lack of advantage creation. And so Donovan 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.680 Mitchell like kind of flashed a lot of the old 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.439 Donovan Mitchell right, really taking control of the offense and 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.760 more to a heliocentric manner in the excuse me. In 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:26.600 the regular season, his usage rate was below thirty one percent. 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.840 In the postseason it was over thirty seven percent. So 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:33.800 he kind of like reverted back to that hyper aggressive 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:37.400 on ball, heliocentric, kind of ball hoggy type of player, right. 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.040 And for the record, I don't blame him for that. 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:42.760 It was the right thing for him to do in 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.439 that situation. Darius didn't have it. He needed to be 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.400 more in control of things. I do not blame Donovan 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.680 for that. It was the best chance that Cleveland had 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.280 to survive their set of circumstances. But when Donovan goes 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.359 that route, he this is a lot of the easy 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.480 reads that are available to him, and it can be 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.760 a lot of make or miss, feast or famine type 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:09.520 of stuff, and it can lead to him not having 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.240 the same level of offensive impact as the guys that 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:15.199 are above him on this list. For example, in this 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:17.320 postseason run, when Donovan Mitchell was on the floor, the 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.359 Caves managed one hundred and seventeen points six points per 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:23.680 one hundred possessions, which is fine, but it's well below 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:26.439 what the Cavs are producing in the regular season, and 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:28.960 it's well below what they did when Darius Garland was 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.159 in control, especially in the regular season. Right. So, like, 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:36.400 I just don't see Donovan as that overall offensive engine 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.160 that you get from the offensive players that have above 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:40.440