Davion Mitchell isn’t the favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but the Kings guard is expected to be in the conversation.
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Barring a monumental fifth-year leap from De’Aaron Fox, the Kings are unlikely to have a Most Valuable Player candidate on their roster this season, and that’s reflected in the results from this week’s poll.
However, they are expected to have a Rookie of the Year candidate in Davion Mitchell.
The Kings’ decision to take Mitchell ninth overall was heavily scrutinized the night of the 2021 NBA Draft, but since then, he’s shown why the front office is so high on him. Not only has his pride for the defensive end spread to the rest of the team, but he’s proven to be the perfect “plug and play” guy off the bench.
But even with how important Mitchell projects to be for the Kings this season, he only has a 7% chance of winning Rookie of the Year, according to our poll. Here are the results for the top-three:
The results for the official voting will probably look similar to these, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mitchell sneak into the top-three, especially if he’s the only rookie to play a crucial role in getting his team to the postseason.
Speaking of the postseason, our poll also showed who fans think will win the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, respectively, and the Lakers and Nets remain the top picks despite the fact that they lost their opening night games.
Losing? Let alone on opening night? Couldn’t be the Kings this season.