(Mandatory Credit: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
By the time February rolled around, most could agree that Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat needed to go their separate ways. For a while, Butler’s was hellbent on Phoenix — until the Golden State Warriors opened up the wallet to extend Butler for a full two-year max upon trading for him.
Miami completed the five-team deal ahead of the deadline, and while Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was the headliner, guard Davion Mitchell was the most impactful over the second-half of the season.
Mitchell put up career numbers, averaging 10.3 points, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals on 44.7 percent shooting from 3-point range on 3.1 attempts per game. The 24-year-old was in the last year of his rookie contract and Miami was able to re-sign him to a two-year, $24 million bargain deal this summer.
Re-signing Davion Mitchell could be one of the most impactful under-the-radar moves of the summer:
Davion Mitchell was expected to receive a big payday this summer — upwards of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, worth roughly $14 million. His agency inked a two-year, $24 million deal with Miami days before free agency — a move I said was reasonable for both sides at the time.
However, given Tyler Herro’s foot surgery, Mitchell’s deal has the potential to become one of the more valuable ones made this summer if he’s able to replicate, say, 80-90 percent of his 30-game production from last year.
The Ringer‘s Rob Mahoney beautifully described why the two sides reuniting could be a splash in July.
“It took several years for Mitchell to establish himself as something more than a situational stopper, but everything started to click last season—first as Toronto’s fill-in starting point guard, and then as a critical part of Miami’s playoff push,” Mahoney wrote in July.“His handle was finally tight enough to actually run the point, and a surge in playmaking followed. Mitchell’s jumper, which had long held him back, cashed during his time with the Heat at an incredible 45-percent clip. With that came a certain plug-and-play ease; if Mitchell’s shooting holds, he’ll open up all kinds of lineup possibilities for Miami.
Re-signing a player with that type of potential to this type of deal is a no-brainer. That’s below-market value for a starting guard, and the last we saw Mitchell he was absolutely a starting-caliber guard—even if Norm Powell’s arrival in Miami winds up nudging him into a bench role next season. Yet at the same time, it’s a great deal for Mitchell to lock in a two-year deal that will more than double his career earnings. … Players like Mitchell don’t just find a home in the NBA—they make one.”
The four-year veteran will almost assuredly be inserted into the starting lineup amid Herro’s absence. The results weren’t always there, but Mitchell was one of the team’s best players down the stretch last season. No matter what role you placed him in, he thrived.
Over the duration of his contract, Mitchell won’t make more than 7.5 percent of the cap. He could easily turn that into a bargain. He may be 6-foot-2, but he’s ferocious, tough, selfless and fearless. He’s exactly who the Heat embody as an organization.
Everyone should have at least one, but the Heat are lucky enough to have the real version — at a very respectable price that could look like a real bargain down the line.
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