Utah Jazz wing Donovan Mitchell is not known for his defense, but it could be his play on that side of the ball that determines whether or not he makes Team USA's World Cup roster.
Team USA director Jerry Colangelo says that Mitchell can make an impact on that end of the floor and might make the roster if he does:
“The thing that we’re looking for is defense and he has the ability to be a real factor,” said Colangelo, according to Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. “That could be the best way for him to make a roster spot is to play incredible defense.”
Again, defense is not really known as one of Mitchell's strong suits. While he is not terrible on that end of the floor, he is not all that good, but the good news is that he has the athletic ability and the length to be an impact defender, so maybe he will learn as he grows.
Mitchell is coming off of a 2018-19 campaign in which he averaged 23.8 points, 4.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 33.7 minutes per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, 36.2 percent from three-point range and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Widely renowned by fans for his explosiveness on offense, Mitchell is still yet to show he can truly be a great offensive player, as he posted a true-shooting percentage of just 53.7 percent and an effective field-goal percentage of 49.3 percent this past season, both below league average.
Still, given Mitchell's athleticism and pure skill, there is every reason to believe that he will eventually develop into a consistent force, and potentially on both ends of the court.
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