The OKC Thunder have two rookie first-round talents on their payroll for this season in Nikola Topic and Dillon Jones. Yet, despite this, easily their most impressive first-year contributor thus far into the campaign has been second-round selection, Ajay Mitchell.
Snatched up 38 overall during this past June's NBA Draft and signed to a two-way deal back in early July, the UC Santa Barbara product has consistently served as a regular within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation and, through 31 games, has proven himself to be one of the game's best rookies.
This sentiment was only further strengthened Sunday night during Oklahoma City's 130-106 route over the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, as he dropped career highs in points (17), three-pointers made (3), and box plus-minus rating (+20) in 21 minutes of action.
Ajay gets through traffic with speed🚦 pic.twitter.com/gi7gbsWh2X
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 30, 2024
Of course, what makes things all the more impressive is that this showing came directly after his first career start with the Thunder, one in which he received ample praise from coach Daigneault after finishing with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 50 percent shooting in a 106-94 win over Charlotte.
With this second-straight standout performance, Mitchell once again found himself being applauded by his cohorts, with superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going as far as to label him "special" during his post-game press conference.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander praises OKC Thunder rookie after career night
"For the team, he pushes the pace, he plays so hard on both ends of the floor that he raises the level of our intensity. And then he's such a good decision-maker on the ball, in close-outs. He makes reads every possession. Me and joke we can tell by the way he plays that he went to college for four years. He makes every read, he plays basketball the right way, he plays hard does all the little things. He helps us win," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
While admitting that he "certainly didn't" expect Mitchell to have the type of impact that he's had on the Thunder as a whole, SGA revealed how the rookie has helped him while on the hardwood from an individual perspective during his young tenure in the association.
"For myself, he makes the game easy. He takes the pressure off if someone's pressuring me coming up the court. Obviously a great handler. He also sees the game at a very high level so I can cut backdoor, I can save my energy, and get freed up off the ball and he'll find me. He's special," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
As mentioned earlier, Ajay Mitchell has quietly established himself as one of the best players from the 2024 rookie class.
Out of those who have played in 20 or more games this season the two guard ranks fourth among first-year ballers in offensive rating (109.8), first in defensive rating (98.8), first in three-point shooting (46.7), and second in overall net rating (11.0).
As Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned during his praise-filled presser, Mitchell affects winning basketball when on the floor, and, moving forward, he expects that to continue.
Assuming this winds up being the case, and the youngster continues to be found on the sidelines for the Thunder, there's a strong possibility that he could earn himself a new contract with the ball club before the conclusion of 2024-25, as his current deal only allows him to be active for 50 contests with the varsity team.
Considering he's already hit 31 games and there are still 51 remaining on the regular season docket, Sam Presti and company should strongly consider taking the same approach they did with Aaron Wiggins back during his respective rookie year in 2021-22.
Based on the advanced metrics, his assessment from players and coaches, and, simply, the eye test, investing in Ajay Mitchell with a standard NBA contract could prove to be well worth it in the long run.