If opponents have off nights, new Raptor Davion Mitchell is doing his job

LAS VEGAS -- The Toronto Raptors' newest point guard loves his nickname.

Davion Mitchell was dubbed ‘off night’ by a friend while he was playing for Baylor University, where he was the engine behind a team that won the national championship in 2021.

“It came from me having really good nights against really top guards in our league that were projected to be NBA draft picks and they had off nights [when they played against him],” said Mitchell. “So, we just stuck with that.”

It’s the kind of nickname you have to live up to, and the Raptors would like nothing better.

Most of the best teams in franchise history have had depth at point guard -- think Mark Jackson and Alvin Williams in the Vince Carter era, or T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon during Chris Bosh’s best years, or Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet on the best teams the Raptors have ever had. 

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Raptors' fortunes have sagged when they haven’t had quality point guard play.

Take last season, for example.  The Raptors never properly replaced VanVleet when he left in free agency last summer. Dennis Schroder was better suited to a backup role, but didn’t really want that job, and there were no better options on the roster in any case -- apologies to Malachi Flynn. Third-year forward Scottie Barnes had some strong moments running the point but it was a still developing area of expertise, and when he had the ball he couldn’t be wreaking havoc off the ball, a specialty of his.

Tellingly, the Raptors used OG Anunoby – perhaps their most valuable trade asset – to acquire Immanuel Quickley from the New York Knicks, and then just last week signed the 25-year-old to a five-year deal for $175 million to spend the prime of his career manning the point in Toronto.

But that only takes care of 32 to 36 minutes most nights. And even if Barnes can continue to grow into a lead playmaking role – he led Toronto in total assists even while missing the final 22 games of the season – the Raptors still need someone who can guard opposing point guards.

Enter Mitchell, who was acquired in a trade last month. He knows the role. After being taken ninth overall by Sacramento in 2021, he joined a Kings team that already featured two elite young guards in De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. Even after Haliburton was traded midway through the 2021-22 season, Mitchell still had to carve out minutes for himself behind Fox, who earned All-Star and all-NBA honours in 2022-23.

Given Quickley’s ability to shoot when playing off the ball, Mitchell could earn minutes playing alongside the Raptors starter. After seeing his minutes decline from 27.7 a game as a rookie to 15.3 last season, Mitchell senses an opportunity with Toronto, so much so that he’s with the team in Summer League – even though he's ineligible to play as a fourth-year veteran. He simply wants to absorb as much about the Raptors' system as he can before training camp.

“With a young group I’m going to have more opportunities to be on the court and show what I can do,” said Mitchell, 25. “But also just being a leader. I played with De’Aaron Fox, who was kinda like a vet in our league. So, learning things from him, learning things from [Kings centre Domantis Sabonis]. Just trying to bring those things to Toronto.”

Shooting has typically been an area that has held the six-foot-two guard back at times. During his first two NBA seasons he connected on just 31.7 per cent of his threes. But last season he shot 36.1 per cent, which is right about league average, and connected on an encouraging 42.8 per cent from deep from February through the end of the season.

It that holds – or even if Mitchell can reliably shoot at a league average rate from three – the Raptors may have stumbled into something with the draft-day trade for Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov as the Kings were trying to shed some payroll.

But it will be his defence that will remain Mitchell’s differentiating quality. Using his low, powerful frame to get into opposing guards and get them off their line is something that seems to come easily to him.

“Why am I good at it? I think because I love doing it. I think I’m really strong, my quads are really strong,” he said. “I’ve been gifted with a lot of abilities that God has given me. I don’t really know why I’m good at it … you definitely have to have IQ, but I think for me I have really fast feet. I can stop on a dime better than, I think, anybody in the world. I have really good recovery speed. So, a lot of it is God gifted, but also you just have to have effort. You’ve gotta play extremely hard and want to do it.”

The Raptors, who were 26th in defensive rating last season, will take all of it and more.

“He’s a defensively oriented guy; a guy that has a mindset of being very aggressive on the ball. Well known as a defensive stopper,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “[He’s] improving his three-point shooting. I think he's going to fit in our rotation really well … [but] it’s not just about him. It's all the guys. Everybody has to step up.

“We're working a lot during the summer to really improve on-ball defence, aggressiveness. We're really, really, trying to -- as you can see in the draft class as well -- we're trying to find as many possible two-way guys that can be -- we call them ‘the most important guy’. [The] most important guy is the guy who's guarding the ball. He makes it easier for everybody else. And we're really trying to develop everybody on our roster to be able to do a better job on both.”

Mitchell is more than willing to lead by example.

“I think for me over my career playing basketball, every team that I’ve been on, the guy that’s on the ball brings that energy,” he said. “I think that me putting pressure on the ball up top, a lot of people are gonna want to play just as hard. No one wants to stand out by not playing hard. So, me bringing that energy is going to show.”

After suffering a year full of their own 'off nights' during their 25-57 last year, the Raptors are hoping that Mitchell can help them give a few opposing teams off nights instead.