Davion Mitchell received high praises from across the league after debut weekend

NBA stars are already taking notice of what can happen on an Off Night.

It’s taken all but three games for the league to be put on notice that Davion Mitchell is a standout talent amongst his rookie class.

The Kingdom had the opportunity to watch Mitchell shine with the #SummerKings and in various spurts throughout the preseason, but with the start of the regular, NBA fans and players alike have begun to see exactly why Mitchell has the nickname “Off Night.”

Over the weekend, Mitchell put on a defensive clinch while posting career-highs in shooting in back-to-back contests. On Friday night vs. the Utah Jazz, Mitchell was putting his signature clamps on Donovan Mitchell, holding him to 9 of 25 shooting from the field and forcing five turnovers.

After Friday’s contest, Spida said Davion “set the tone defensively” for the Kings at Golden 1 Center.

“First off, [Davion] is as advertised,” Donovan told reporters on Friday night. “He does a lot of solid things that disrupted not only myself, but a lot of us.”

Then, on Sunday, Mitchell had a career-high night in scoring, tallying 22 points in a loss to Golden State. Despite the outcome of the match, Stephen Curry spoke highly of the opposing rookie and the potential he possesses.

“Just the confidence of a guy coming in his third game in the league … you could definitely tell he has all the tools in the kit to be a defensive stopper.” Curry told reporters following Sunday’s contest.

We’ve yet to see Mitchell matchup against all of the star point guards in the NBA, let alone those he was drafted with, but he’s been impressive on the defensive end so far. Offensively, contests where Mitchell is tasked with going head-to-head with the likes of Patrick Beverley, Jrue Holiday or Kyle Lowry are going to be fun as all get out.

Despite just a 7% fan vote to win Rookie of the Year, the buzz around Mitchell’s game is high and the recognition he’s garnering will only grow with the continued “Off Night” brand of basketball he brings to Sacramento and this game.