Davion Mitchell takes pride in defending at a high level.
The Toronto Raptors guard has made a reputation of being one of the better defenders in the league.
Mitchell thinks he is the absolute best when it comes to locking down the opposition.
“I love the (defensive) end. I feel like I’m the best defender in our league, honestly. Off ball or on the ball, I just feel like that’s who I am,” Mitchell told TSN’s Josh Lewenberg.
Mitchell also made it clear that he’s not just an elite on ball defender, but he’s great off the ball as well.
“So, I think the narrative in the NBA is that I’m bad off the ball and I’m just so good on the ball. And I think that people get it confused, where it’s like ‘he’s so good on the ball but he needs to work off the ball.’ It’s like, no, I’m good off the ball too,” Mitchell replied to a question from Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “I’m just so good on the ball that’s all you see. And in past interviews people say I need to work on off ball, so now they just took the narrative that he’s bad off ball. I hate it but it is what it is. I can do both, for sure.”
Mitchell detailed his process when it comes to guarding really good players, via hello and welcome. Most recently, he had the assignment of trying to contain Jalen Brunson who is a premiere guard in the league.
“I just tell them to send me all their ISO clips. Jalen Bronson’s was 20 minutes. I probably watched it five times that same day…I just wanted to see what he would get to,” said Mitchell.
The Raptors knew what they were going to get from Mitchell on the defensive end and so far he’s been as advertised. It’s been offensively where Mitchell has struggled. He is only shooting 38.7 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from three.
If Mitchell wants to increase his value, he’s going to have to show more promise on the offensive end. However, defensively, he’s got that locked down.
Raptors waive DJ Carton to open up two-way spot
The Toronto Raptors have moved on from DJ Carton.
The Raptors have waived the guard per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, which opens up a two-way slot on their roster.
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