Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell established himself as arguably the best rookie in the 2017-18 NBA season. He has almost solidified that notion with an impressive couple of outings thus far in the postseason.

However, it has gotten to the point where Mitchell has begun to take his game to the next level. According to Jazz broadcaster Kristen Kenney, he has started to pick the brains of NBA veterans around the league to see how they would approach defending him:

Donovan Mitchell says he’s been asking NBA vets in/out of playoffs how they would guard him as some of his prep work.

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It is no secret that Mitchell's game seems well beyond his years. Now it appears his mental approach to basketball is as well. It is not uncommon for first-year players to hit the dreaded “rookie wall.” Since it was hardly a factor all year, there was speculation as to how he would handle the pressure of performing in the postseason. However, it seems Mitchell has taken the initiative to ensure that this does not happen by looking at things from an opponent's perspective.

The 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has been nothing short of spectacular thus far in the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  He is currently averaging 27.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. That said, Mitchell is the reason Utah managed to steal homecourt advantage from Oklahoma City with the series split 1-1 heading back to the Vivint Smart Home Arena. However, he will need to continue to play at a high level if the Jazz are to fend off a star-studded Thunder team looking to bounce back from its dreadful fourth-quarter performance in Game 2.