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Donovan Mitchell vs. Ben Simmons

Who really deserved Rookie of the Year?

By Shandon PendletonPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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I love basketball. Basketball has been a huge part of my life growing up, and I love to express my opinion on the NBA. I constantly see posts on social media about the NBA and people’s opinions on the players, games, organizations, and other matters. I love reading through the comments and seeing what people think. Sometimes, someone will say something that I really agree with, and, sometimes, someone will say something that I think is absurd. Instead of commenting and getting into thread arguments or receiving backlash, I can post my opinions here and express how I feel about the NBA.

I’m really interested in writing about Donovan Mitchell because he is one of my favorite players. Coming from a Utah Jazz fan, I really grew to love Mitchell during the last season. One of the most controversial topics in the NBA was the 2017–18 Rookie of the Year debate. The award was ultimately won by Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, but it is still up for debate today on whether Mitchell was robbed or if Simmons really deserved it.

Ben Simmons was an outstanding player this last year. However, one of the biggest arguments as to why he DIDN’T deserve ROTY was that it was technically his second year in the NBA. Simmons was drafted in 2016, whereas other players in the running for ROTY such as Mitchell, Jayson, Tatum, or Kyle Kuzma, were drafted in 2017. Simmons was injured the entire 2016–17 season, therefore was deemed eligible for the award in the 2017–18 season. People argue that, even though he didn’t play a single game the season before, he had an advantage of being in the NBA. Simmons was subject to lots of training and experienced the NBA lifestyle, giving him a large advantage. While the injury does hold him back and briefly halt his player development and growth, the experience helped him prepare for the culture shock of playing in the NBA, whereas other “true” rookies were thrown into it unprepared.

I don’t want to talk too much about the “rookie or not” debate because, whether you believe he should be considered or not, the NBA gives him eligibility. I think that if you really want to argue who was better, don’t worry about the experience, but worry more about their individual skill as a player, such as scoring, rebounding, assists, defense, and other areas.

Scoring

Ben Simmons averaged 15.8 PPG during his “rookie” season, which is very impressive for his first year playing. Because of the size at his position, he was dominant at getting inside. Being 6’ 10” at the point guard position gave him a huge advantage at scoring. Although his inside game is very strong, his outside game was a massive weakness. His midrange game was really weak, and he failed to make a single three-pointer the entire year. That’s important to note because the NBA has changed a lot. Today's game is a shooters game. Look at the top teams in the NBA, such as the Warriors or Rockets. What do these teams do that are dominant compared to other teams? It’s that they can shoot the ball. Although the Sixers have lots of other strong shooters, a player, other than a center, that can’t shoot can be a huge disadvantage.

Donovan Mitchell led all rookies in scoring with 20.4 PPG. He posted two 40-point games during the season, broke the record for most 3-pointers made in a season by a rookie and was near the top of many rookie scoring records. Yes, scoring isn’t everything, but in the end, the point of basketball is to get the ball in the basket. That’s how you win. Yes, Mitchell did jack up a lot of shots during the season, but he finished with a field goal percentage of 43.7%, which is respectable. Not as high as you’d like, but it will only get better. Simmons averaged 54.5% from the field, considerably higher than Mitchell, but when you consider the type of shots taken between the two, it’s tough to compare.

Rebounds and Assists

Simmons beats out Mitchell at these two stats. However, you also have to look at positioning. Simmons is a point guard. High assist numbers are a must if he is to be a star player, whereas Mitchell is a shooting guard, whose main objective is to score the ball, which he has the advantage of over Simmons. Rebounding is also boosted due to Simmons height, whereas Mitchell grabs a decent amount of boards for his height and position.

Leadership

I’m not going to argue defense because both players played impressive defensively, something that both teams should be satisfied with. Leadership, however, is something else. Both teams finished in the playoff race: Sixers with the third seed and the Jazz with the fifth seed. Considering their conferences, the west is a tougher competition than the east, making the Jazz’s ranking more impressive. The one thing that impresses me is their role on each team. Ben Simmons wasn’t the main role on his team. That was Joel Embiid. But Donovan Mitchell was the main option for the Jazz. You can argue that Rudy Gobert was their best player; however, the roles were different. Both teams have a dominant guard and a dominant big man. Joel Embiid vs. Rudy Gobert. Rudy won DOPY but Embiid was close in the voting and a much stronger offensive player, giving him large roles both on the defensive and offensive end. Mitchell was the main option for the Jazz on offense. With a great supporting cast, Mitchell led the Jazz to a playoff series win against the reigning MVP Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony. To me, that is a lot more impressive than what Simmons did for the Sixers. Very impressive cases for both sides but, in the end, I’d go with Mitchell. Simmons may have stats over him, but I’d say the leadership and spark that Mitchell brings to the Jazz is more valuable than what Simmons did for the Sixers last season. Both players are going to be superstars in the future. Simmons may even have a brighter future than Mitchell, but as for rookie season goes, I’d choose Mitchell over Simmons.

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Shandon Pendleton

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