Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell's similar rookie years


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

ATLANTA — Donovan Mitchell has some thoughts for Trae Young when it comes to this season’s Rookie of the Year race: “Unfortunately, it helps to start the year off strong.”

Mitchell would know more than most.

In November 2017, Mitchell went 3-of-21 against the Philadelphia 76ers. That performance left many on the Sixers staff less than impressed.

“A lot of people on our staff in Philly that said ‘He’s not very good.’” Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce said, who was then an assistant in Philadephia. “I was like, ‘He got 21 shots up. that's a skill, that is a talent, that's a mentality.’”

And Pierce had a realization: That Mitchell kid is going to be just fine.

Five months later, Mitchell was leading the Jazz to playoff series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Pierce also had the same thoughts about his rookie point guard when he was dealing with some early-season struggles.

Young was bad in November. He couldn’t shoot — hitting just 19 percent from three, one of his biggest strengths in college — and it looked like it had been a drastic mistake for the Hawks to have traded for him for Luka Doncic.

Oh, how things have changed.

Young had 23 points and 11 assists Thursday to lead the Hawks to a 117-114 win over the Jazz at State Farm Arena. That marked the 14th game that he had 20 points and 10 assists. So, yeah, he’s not struggling too much anymore.

“I told him that you are going to look back and laugh and wonder, ‘Why couldn't I make a shot in the month of November?’” Pierce said. “There’s a lot of people that said some stuff about Trae in December that aren’t saying that now.”

The Jazz struggled to contain Young, allowing him to get into the paint and either score or find an open guy. It’s what he has been doing for a while now. The Rookie of the Year race was declared over after a few weeks, as Doncic took the league by storm — just like how it was declared over a season ago when Ben Simmons jumped out to a hot start.

“I think him and I went through the same thing,” Mitchell said. “The biggest thing is to keep doing what you’re doing."

Even Jazz coach Quin Snyder has been impressed with the improvement. He remembers watching Young struggle in Summer League in July. He didn’t think too much of it then and Young’s play has proved that thought right.

“The thing to me that is most impressive about his season is his unwavering belief in himself,” Snyder said. “He knows who he is as a player.”

So did Mitchell. But that doesn’t mean an award will be waiting at season’s end.

“I tell him all the time: ‘You are not gonna get it,’” Mitchell said laughing.

Most recent Utah Jazz stories

Related topics

Utah JazzSports
KSL.com Utah Jazz reporter

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast