Pelicans Draft: Could Davion Mitchell become the next Donovan Mitchell?

Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The New Orleans Pelicans need an injection of talent at the guard position and could get it in the NBA Draft with Davion Mitchell.

Mitchell is one of the players most mocked to the Pelicans, and it makes sense, as he is a hard-nosed defender who can shoot 3-pointers, both things they need.

The Pelicans have a few glaring issues to address this offseason, namely their lack of defense and 3-point shooting, as they were near the bottom of the NBA in both.

Davion Mitchell is a winner, a tough player who gets after it on the defensive end and is considered one of the best on-the-ball defenders in this draft.

But he can also score, which has him drawing comparisons to current NBA superstar Donovan Mitchell (no relation) who had a similar profile coming out of college.

Could the Pelicans find the next superstar guard to drop in the NBA Draft?

Pelicans: Comparing Davion Mitchell to Donovan Mitchell

The two Mitchells have more similarities than just sharing a last name.

Both are combo guards with similar size, as Davion is 6-foot-2 205 lbs., while Donovan Mitchell is one inch shorter and ten pounds heavier.

Both are strong players who can get to the rim and finish and had similar numbers coming out of college.

Davion Mitchell averaged 14 points, 5.5 assists 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals while leading Baylor to the national championship. Donovan Mitchell had very similar numbers in college, scoring 15.6 points with 2.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game in his final season.

The biggest difference other than rebounds is that Davion Mitchell was a much-better shooter from behind the arc, as he averaged 44 percent to Donovan Mitchell’s 35 percent, though Donovan took more attempts per game.

Like Donovan, Davion Mitchell figures to go somewhere in the lottery, but probably towards the back end of it where the Pelicans are likely to be picking.

The two have so many similarities that Damian Lillard joked that they might be clones.

Donovan Mitchell is one of the best guards in the NBA and is currently the best player on a team trying to win a title, so Davion Mitchell has a long way to go to get there, but he has a similar skill set, build and mentality.

If he falls to the New Orleans Pelicans in the draft, the Pels should consider Davion Mitchell with their pick, as they don’t want to be on the list of teams that regret passing on the next undervalued superstar.