When the Miami Heat finally shipped out the heavily disgruntled Jimmy Butler, there were several moving parts to the trade deadline blockbuster deal. Originally, the Heat acquired PJ Tucker as part of the initial framework of the trade— but the 24-hour Tucker reunion didn’t last.
That is because Pat Riley and the front office immediately flipped the 40 year-old Tucker into Davion Mitchell.
The final version of the Butler move featured Miami acquiring a package of Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Mitchell and a first-round draft pick. All three of those newcomers each had nice moments in their half-season Heat stint, but Mitchell is the one who really left a mark the most.
The 6-foot combo guard earned the nickname “off night”, because his defensive skills were so pestering that he would force opposing players into having ‘off night’s’ offensively. And the scrappy fifth-year newest addition lived up to his nickname.
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Mitchell’s gritty point-of-attack defense on the perimeter made it a perfect fit under coach Erik Spoelstra and the infamous Heat Culture. However, he is set to become a free agent, and all of Heat Nation is hoping he re-signs and becomes a long term piece.
Luckily for Miami, that sentiment may appear to go both ways.
In 30 games played for the Miami Heat this season, Davion Mitchell averaged 10.3 points, 5.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals on 50% shooting and 45% from 3-point range.
Mitchell made his true mark in the two play-in tournament games. He provided a huge two-way impact and knocked down some clutch buckets in the process. That success carried into the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was one of the rare positives for Spoelstra in the 0-4 series loss.
He brings the versatility to be impactful in either a starting or bench role. Like a lot of underrated rotation pieces usually do under Spoelstra, Mitchell had the best stretch of his NBA career with the Heat.
The scoring and efficiency numbers were a significant career-high. Additionally, his playmaking took a leap in Miami.
Considering the complete failure of the Terry Rozier acquisition, the Heat are limited on point guard depth. Tyler Herro was forced to run point for large portions of this past season. Ideally, Herro should remain in the much more comfortable shooting guard position for the most part.
Re-signing Mitchell can help make that happen, and his fit with his new Heat team has been undeniable.
Unfortunately, there may be some stiff competition with teams hoping to swoop in on the restricted free agent in the near future. His play-in and postseason performances only helped increase his value to opposing teams.
He has quickly become a fan favorite, and he has the stats and energy to back that up. Hopefully, Mitchell’s admiration for the Heat organization is enough to help in negotiations to remain in South Beach during this upcoming offseason.
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Pay Robinson $9,888,000 to walk and save $10M. That’s a start.
Give this guy a quality deal come on man we need dudes like this in our current tumultuous time
Davion wanting it here. Why? Because Heat culture rules lol
Even if this team have “failed” in the last years tons of players wants to wear the Heat jersey.
Technically a ton of players is only, like, 20 players.
But all we need is 15, so we’re good!
Glad you recently decided to increase the frequency of your visits to this fine establishment. I believe I’ve recently detected a very slight increase in your use of irony, satire and sarcasm. However, I may be mistaken.
Maybe 5 to 7 superstars and the rest role players? I need the breakdown 😁