Davion Mitchell was one of the three players sent to the Miami Heat in the Jimmy Butler-Golden State Warriors trade this week.
Mitchell, a former top-10 pick, is one of the top point-of-attack defenders in the entire NBA–especially since he’s 6-foot-2 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan. He’s an excellent screen navigator, moves his feet exceptionally well and is always up in the jerseys of opposing ball-handlers with great dexterity and coordination.
He also has one of the best nicknames in the NBA: Off Night. Players that he’s tasked with hounding typically have off nights. During his introductory press conference with the Heat Sunday morning, he was asked about the origin of the nickname–which dates back to his days at Baylor.
“I think my second year at Baylor, I was guarding a lot of NBA top-draft guys that were projected to go top-10,” he said. “And they were just having bad nights when I was guarding them. Then, a couple of the (graduate assistants), who are my friends today, were saying, ‘yo, they’re having an off night. We’re going to call you Off Night.’ And we just ran with it and I took it into the (NBA).”
One of those players he went up against at Baylor was former Sacramento Kings teammate and former Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton, who described those nights as a “struggle bus, for sure,” during an interview in October of 2021.
He won a National Championship with Baylor in 2020-21, averaging 14.0 points with a Big-12-most 5.5 assists per game on 51.1/44.7/64.1 shooting splits. He has a championship pedigree, even though he’s been with just one winning team (Kings — 2022-23) in his four seasons.
In 44 games, he’s averaging 6.3 points and 4.6 assists on 43.4 percent shooting, including 35.9 percent from 3-point range and 67.6 percent from the 3-point line. While he does have limitations offensively, the 26-year-old guard is exactly what the Heat need defensively. There’s no telling what his role might look like, but expect Mitchell to go 125 percent on the defensive end–exuding the “heart over height” moniker.
There is more to contextualize than just raw numbers, but Trae Young, De’Aaron Fox, Jaylen Brown, Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Cade Cunningham are a combined 21-for-64 (32.8 percent) with 15 turnovers in 413 partial possessions against Mitchell this season. He’s going to make it tough for opposing ballhandlers every night–including a few of the league’s top aforementioned shot-creators.
Do you like Davion Mitchell’s “Off Night” nickname? Let us know in the comments!
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ware and bam on offense has not looked good.i dont want a guy with a wingspan like ware just hanging around 3 pt line .im not sure about wares offensive game but he needs to be around the rim more and bam needs to be more away from hoop.
Remember that Ware has been playing all these games without Butler or another starting caliber SF who is a more consistent scorer than Highsmith or Jovic. Once Wiggins, Herro and Robinson are hitting from the outside, it will open up the middle for Bam and Ware. There should be an increase in short jumpers and lob passes for both of them.
I would love to see the Heat obtain a high level/aggressive point guard. That would really open up the offense. I’ve previously mentioned that Josh Giddey’s contract is expiring this year. It would be nice to obtain him in a sign and trade or sign him as a free agent if he isn’t too expensive. He is 6’8″ tall and is averaging 7.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game with Chicago this season and has career averages of 7.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
P.S. I sure would like to see what Stevens can do at the NBA level.
We got three useful additions and because of that we are a better team today without Butler. But, we still got a long way to go compared to Milwaukee, New York, Cleveland, and Boston. Watching Milwaukee and all the good players they have brought in was concerning as they beat a full Sixer team without Giannis. The Sixers are likely better too, if they ever get healthy.
I say this just to illustrate how far we have to go to be competitive. We have a lot of holes, a lot of weaknesses plugged in with players who really shouldn’t be in this league. The only players who belong are Bam, Ty, Wiggins, Ware, Rozier, Mitchell, and possibly Nico and Slo Mo. We were carried by Jimmy and it covered many flaws. But, that Jimmy was not the player who went to Golden State, so don’t feel too bad.
But, now that he’s gone, time to upgrade on the top nine players in the rotation. We can improve on everyone other than Bam, Wiggins, Ware, and Ty. We don’t have to replace all of the next four I mentioned above, but the lineup does need to get deeper and better.
We are probably as many as three top nine players, including at least one starter, away from catching up. It’s going to take more than a year, but the timeline we have is three to five years.
Make no mistake, there is a wide gulf between us and the good teams. Stop trying to fill it in with GLeaguers, and draft very carefully with the few choices we have. Get real and honest, and most of all, start looking like the rest of the league. There is a reason the other teams, “ they not like us.”
You don’t know what Keshad can do. Pelle is in his first season and hasn’t played much, so you don’t know what his potential is. Jaquez has been inconsistent, but would be on a roster on any team, perhaps as a 9-12 man. I seem to remember guys named Strus, Vincent, Dru, and Derrick Jones Jr from the G league, 2 of which became starters. I think the Heat are at least as successful as any team drafting in the middle of the first round.
The immediate future begins tonight. I remain optimistic. I believe if everyone plays to their potential, we can be a 5 or 6 seed.
I agree RC. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have wanted to see Spo giving Johnson more playing time or, at minimum, sending him to G League to stay active, gain confidence and experience. He has been sitting on the bench for the last month doing nothing. I was glad to see he is playing with Sioux Falls today. At least he’ll get some playing time. I think he will eventually be a very solid rotation player, if not a starter. With Johnson, the 2025 draft pick and potential trades and free agents available this summer, I can see Miami improving quite a bit by next season.
I get that we don’t know yet and I hope we have something special in all three of those players GLeaguers. But, obviously it is more likely that two, if not all three will not be good enough in some way and that is why they were not drafted. Pelle also still has a real shot, but again, we don’t know yet.
What we do know is we have five quality starters, Ty, Ware, Bam, Wiggins, and probably Mitchell. That is a good starting five, not a great one., in comparison to the good teams in our division (and OKC, Denver, etc too). Then we have Rozier, Nico, and KAnderson as reasonable quality depth. It drops off after that, again, in comparison to the better teams than us.
Wait till we play a healthy, which is not tonite, Boston, Milwaukee, NY, or Cleveland, it will get more apparent where we stand. I am not saying we are bad, just mediocre, two to three players away, including one starter.
And I totally agree about the 2-3 players. In particular, we need a solid athletic point guard (if Mitchell improves his offensive game, he might be that guy) and a quality backup center.
We are probably just two players away, not three. One upgrade at starter, and one quality rotation guy, Assuming we keep all our the best players we have now, that would build a team that could compete with the top four in the East. And I still think we are closer now than before our little trade with Golden State.
thank God that monicker was for the opposing guard not him. cant wait. Go Heat!
This dude is built like Dru Smith. He looks like a pit bull. I can see why they call him “Off Night.” I can imagine him and Isaiah Stevens sharing the PG position. I can also see Mitchell, Smith and Stevens competing for the starter position next season.
Here’s a good introduction video to Davion Mitchell (below). I think he is going to fit in just fine. He and Wiggins both have reputations as “lock down” defenders. We’ll find out tomorrow against Boston. There is also a video below on Wiggins.
Bam and Ware on the inside. Herro, Wiggins and Mitchell on the outside. Can’t wait to see our defense closing out close games. Mitchell, Highsmith, Wiggins, Bam and Ware. Works for me.
Mitchell video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gab6eXLCZ_Y
Wiggins video
This is a good video on Andrew Wiggins this season with Golden State.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv8q1X3FvSc
Here’s a short clip with Steve Kerr commenting on Andrew Wiggins, the person.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I2UZd1kUeKI
Off Night origin story is straight inject Heat culture right into my veins. Good stuff.