As someone with a vested interest in this discourse, my read of popular perception is that up until 2 seasons ago Mitchell was unambiguously seen as superior, there was a year where people treated them as equal, and then last year Booker surpassed him in conventional wisdom.
Jazz fan. I wouldn't say unambiguous because Mitchell was a pretty bad point guard until recently and Book started to get some serious attention when he started breaking all those scoring records but yeah this is it basically.
It was arbitrary the numbers but IIRC it was the year before the bubble year he started passing Kobe on a bunch of the "youngest guard to score x career points" type stats.
By the NBA rules and also precedent, Simmons was a rookie. If you consider him a rookie, Simmons was clear-cut a better player than Mitchell that year.
Yeah Simmons had that insane 20 game-ish stretch with Embiid out where he truly looked like the next big thing. Mitchell was great but Simmons was clearly better.
He went through a preseason and a whole training camp then got to be on an NBA roster for an entire year and adjust to the schedule and pro training and then another preseason and training camp. Rules are rules but it's always been a stupid rule to me
I dunno. Mitchell had 5ppg more. Way better at the line. And was shooting 35% at the 3. And didn’t even have a year to rest before playing in the nba being conditioned and trained like Ben.
It’s a small thing, but it’s nice to read stuff like this as a Suns fan. Sometimes I think I’m just a hardcore homer when I think this sub loves to hate him.
They are actually pretty evenly matched, with Booker slightly ahead in most areas.
Mitchell is better driving the ball and finishing at the rim, while Booker has the edge pretty much everywhere else. Both elite guards and very fun to watch.
Yeah I don't buy that he's suddenly a 42% three point shooter overnight
He actually has had FEWER of his threes assisted this year than last year so unless he became Steph Curry at age 26 which is unlikely he's just having a hot streak on the exact same quality of looks
I've seen some people say he's just getting much better looks in Cleveland than in Utah but statistically this doesn't really appear to be the case
I think there is something to this idea. He probably feels less pressure to be the main go to guy in Cleveland. The Cavs have any number of guys who can take over scoring, so maybe it just frees up his mind, takes some pressure off...
Mitchell had the best spacing in the league his last 3 years here, he’s definitely not getting better looks. He just one of the streakiest players in the league and is on a good one right now. He’ll have a month where he shoots sub 30% from 3 and he’ll wind up back at 35-37% for the year.
I have watched every single game this year, I’m not sure about 3 point % but the dude looks like an all nba player. Someone who can win you championship.
streaky star, definitely has all the tools to put it together but like all jump shooting stars (except Steph somehow) there’s gonna be a period of time where jumpers don’t fall.
i think in Cleveland he’ll benefit most from having quality around the rim outlets to keep up offensive production and obviously playing with a true top 10 playmaker in the league so he can focus on scoring more
I've watched many more of his games than that, and you're right. However in a few weeks, maybe a few months, he'll have a streak of games where he can't hit his shots and doubles down on forcing them rather than deferring to teammates. He will singlehandedly lose winning games through pure bullheaded arrogance. It will be infuriating, you will want to throw things and scream because you know he's too good for this.
Donovan Mitchell is simultaneously an All-NBA player and a man who would be lucky to make an All-Star team. He will alternating those positions for multi-week stretches every season and you just have to hope that they're timed well enough.
I love Mitchell to death but I could have strangled him with my bare hands after 20% of the games we played last seasons.
I think you overemphasize his streakiness. He definitely held the ball too much at the end of games for the jazz, but I put that on Snyder as much as Mitchell. He may regress to the mean on his 3 pt shooting a bit, but 42% isn’t totally out of the question for him either. I also think he gets into a rhythm off the dribble, and so looking for his own shot more this year (from 3) could be helping him.
He has all the tools to be an all nba offensive force for the next 7-8 years. I miss him as a jazz fan, and don’t find as much fault with his game as other jazz fans seem to, although it seems other Reddit jazz fans didn’t have any problems with him at all until the jazz started losing some games we were expected to win last year.
Hope he wins a chip in Cleveland, and than by some miracle, decides to come back to Utah in a few years.
We love you Donny. We miss you Donny.
> unless he became Steph Curry at age 26 which is unlikely he's just having a hot streak on the exact same quality of looks
Not that I think Mitchell has made that big a leap but he's been close to 40% before, and Steph Curry wasn't even Steph Curry until he was around 26.
Steph shot above 40% every single year lol he was never a “hot streak”’ player
His percentages have always been the same since he was a rookie. Just increased volume,
> Steph shot above 40% every single year
Absolutely, as long as you wait an entire season and look at the percentages at the end (and you ignore his huge growth as a player and focus exclusively on his shooting). If you look at 20 game stretches, Curry definitely was streaky.
Give Donovan a full season and he looks a lot less 'streaky' too- 42% after shooting 39% on near league-leading volume isn't really out there.
Let's not forget Steph wasn't the player he is now until he was around the same age as Donavan. The narrative around him changed drastically the season before his MVP. There were genuine discussions of whether they should've traded him instead of Monta Ellis. Not saying Donavan will become the best 3point shooter ever cause steph was a great shooter before he broke out. However, I don't think it's a nuts idea to think Donavan has even more room to grow.
Mitchell’s having an insane start but I don’t think it’s fair to just ignore all his flaws on the jazz when we don’t use a <20 game sample of their best stretch to evaluate any other player. Booker has clearly been better over their respective careers
Flaws like which ones? Im a new nba fan and I only started watching this season so mitchell has been good for the entire time Ive been watching. Does he struggle being consistent or is there another flaw to his game that just hasnt shown so far?
His defense was mediocre. He had stretches where his shooting was hot, then very cold - streaky basically. Also his last season with Utah just seemed very low energy compared to his earlier seasons and his current season with the Cavs. Maybe it was injury, maybe he wasn’t vibing with Rudy, maybe he was just bored with Utah - who knows. But I think it’s fair to say Book has been consistently better.
Donovan is a career 28ppg on 56% TS in the playoffs. He lit up the bubble, averaged 30 the next year and played well as a rookie eliminating westbrook + PG. never had a player the caliber of CP3 next to him either. I think it’s been very close career wise.
A lot of guys had outlier scoring/shooting in the bubble. He’s had some very good playoff series but he had legitimate flaws on the jazz that really hurt the team. Last year he was like trae young level on defense, a terrible playmaker, and would go full tunnel vision hero ball in a lot of fourth quarters losing the jazz a lot of games. He basically became the classic undersized two guards that can’t do anything but score, which is like the worst archetype for star players there is for winning. It only works if you have a big elite floor general next to them that’s a great scoring threat themselves, eg kyrie lebron and kyrie harden. And for someone that could do nothing but score he was really bad at it in the mavs series.
He’s obviously trying a lot harder on D and with playmaking so far this season, as well as being a better scorer within the flow of the offense and being less of a ball stopper, and if he keeps this play up for a couple seasons he’d probably be above booker, but as of now he’s not.
Jazz still had the best offensive rating in the league last season with no other stars so I think the criticisms of mitchell’s play on that end are overstated. Agree that booker played better defense the past couple seasons though
Why does devin get credit for that though? He simply had a good playoff bracket and a good team.
If we want to compare playoff careers, donny has been better as a playoff performer.
Impact metrics didn’t rate booker highly that playoffs are all, and I tend to agree, outside of a few high scoring outbursts he was fairly meh.
Strange argument imo
Follow up question. Not trying to prove a point with this.
If Booker replaces Mitchell as Goberts Co star during the jazz run, do they have more, less, or the same success?
I think more because there was some real beef between Mitchell and Gobert, and I think Mitchell was cutting off his nose to spite his face by essentially ignoring Gobert on the court.
This season kind of proves it to me because Mitchell is playing with a fire he didn’t have before this year.
So I’m going to venture that Booker would handle playing with Gobert better based on the dumpster fires he played with before the recent turnaround.
Mitchell is better at operating in high ball screens, Book is better at running off pin downs and DHOs. So yeah, if they had switched teams I think both would have been worse off.
I’d say worse regular season success, better playoff success.
For example, a major reason we lost to the Clippers in the playoffs is because we couldn’t defend against a small ball strat against Gobert. Book is better on defense and could have been the difference in that series. And their offense is similar enough.
Mitchell is also the better playmaker and playoff performer.
Mitchell has improved defensively this year, and it’s not like book is some high impact defensive player, he’s more like curry esque impact on that end
There's no world where Mitchell is a better playmaker than Booker. Booker has more than double the games with 7+ assists as Mitchell. You can argue playoffs, but only one of them has made the Finals
What does that even mean? Mitchell has led a better offense than Booker literally every single season of his career. Why does adaptability matter more than effectiveness?
Also he’s done it on 2 different teams. Seems pretty adaptable to me
Mitchell led a team of scorers, literally a team that fielded 5 15-20ppg scorers and only one defender. In games that Mitchell did not play the Jazz still had the leagues best offense. The Jazz also built an entire offensive system around maximizing Mitchell's ability to collapse the defense on drives.
Meh the team ORtgs in 2021 and 2022 were nearly identical (Jazz +0.2 and +0.5, but Booker actually has a better on court ORtg in 2021 (+1.6) and they were dead even in 2022 per nba.com). So don't think this should be used as an advantage for either player.
Book is not a ball dominant player (tho he has the capability to be), is bigger, more consistent, plays better defense, and has a game that is more likely to age well. Next question.
Being a top notch star and not being “ball dominate” is so underrated in this age of basketball. We see more and more heliocentric stars and the success just hasn’t followed that. Book showing he doesn’t need crazy high usage to elevate a team is pretty big in my opinion
Well usage and ball dominance are two pretty different things. Book does use a lot of possessions, but he doesn’t need to be on the ball. His favorite way to attack is to come off curls and screens, catch the ball, make one or two quick moves, and make a decision to either score or assist. I agree that this style of scoring is extremely underrated, but it’s not necessarily reflected in usage stats.
Ya but that’s exactly what I’m trying to say, he gets plenty of “use” but isn’t a high usage rating player. The best player at this all time is curry, I can’t think of a better non ball dominant player that can elevate a team like him in history
Only thing offensively that book is way better at is rising up high from the mid range.
No one quite has his opportunity of openness with how high he jumps on his mid range jumper except maybe KD cause spider arms.
Defense also goes to book just cause of size.
>No one quite has his opportunity of openness with how high he jumps on his mid range jumper except maybe KD cause spider arms.
Lavine jumps crazy high on his. Especially off balance
Game aside, Book never bitched about being on shitty PHX teams for years and years and years. Mitchell bitched about being on a team that was in the playoffs repeatedly during his formative NBA years.
I take the dude that’s been to the finals with a franchise that didn’t look good for 80% of his career
Amen. Booker became my favorite player when he signed his big contract extension and the team was still pretty dogshit.
There was no news that he wanted out but I was still shocked because “who does that”?
Didn’t know this was ever a debate. Happy to be fact checked on this but Booker seems to be a far more reliable scorer. Man can also go absolutely nuclear at a peak-Klay level.
Is he really 6'1? He looks at least 6'3 to me. Maybe I'm stupid
He's definitely taller than Garland. Who is also listed at 6'1. Accurately or not, I'm not sure.
I'd say Booker because there are some superstars (KD, Dame, CP3) who openly said they want to either play with or their favorite player is Booker so they see some things we don't see.
That's a damn good question, op. Booker has the jump shooting edge, but Donovan has the drive and kick edge.
Height seems irrelevant, since Donovan has a good wing span.
Spida is having a better season than Booker, but I'd still take Booker though based on the body of work. That's not to say Mitchell won't end up becoming better than Booker though
This question really depends on what you are looking for in the player.
Mitchell is a better overall shooter and passer. His defense is underrated because when he played with the Jazz he didn't really play defense. They needed him 100% on offense because the team would never make .500 without him dedicating his time on offense.
Devin is a more complete player in that he has a bigger arsenal and can defend more positions. It also seems like he puts in more effort than almost any player in the league.
If we went off this season alone, so far I'm taking Mitchell any day.
Biased opinion but I’d take Booker simply for the fact that he makes the right play and lets the game come to him now. The amount of doubles where he simply passes instead of making the hero play that leads to a good possession is much higher than Mitchell. I feel booker is the perfect number 2 and Mitchell is a slightly flawed number 1. Just too short
Booker right now. Donovan appears to have taken a leap tho. I also think Spida is a superior leader and is better as far as intangibles. Good comparison. I’d take either one
Defense is half the game. Which means Donovan is practically asleep half the game. Similar offensive bag but Booker is the better playmaker. And size. Only thing Donovan has over Booker is athleticism. Very obvious choice if you ask me.
I think they are close as of now. Booker is a bit more polished with his shooting whereas Mitchell’s physicality and athleticism take the nod. Mitchell’s physical strength and athleticism could give him a potential higher ceiling than Booker.
One thing though. When Mitchell explodes with his body, to be honest it looks pretty scary to guard a player like him. It is almost like guarding a small guard version of Giannis even though Mitchell is much smaller. Booker lacks in that explosiveness department quite a bit.
Mitchell could potentially be a player playing like both Booker and Westbrook at the same time
If I want a No.1 for my team Booker and Mitchell would be a toss up. But if I want a No.2, I will hands down take Mitchell.
You could make an argument for 3pt shooting, but it’s not even close from mid range, idk what you’ve been watching.
If all you know of Mitchell is this season playing on the Cavs, then maybe I get why you feel that. But I’m sorry, this debate has raged for many seasons, and shooting has never been an edge Mitchell has had over Book.
I think it's for two reasons:
1. People don't buy that Mitchell is suddenly a 42% three point shooter on high volume out of nowhere
2. Mitchell is a significantly worse defender
DM has always been a good shooter. I don’t think 42% will hold on the volume of threes he takes but he’s been one of the best catch and shoot players in the league and above average on pull ups for a couple of seasons now
Whys that? I base it on this.
https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/devin_booker_vs_donovan_mitchell.htm
Booker is a better playmaker, less athleticism sure but still a better defender and 3 level scorer than Mitchell. More playoff success and more lack luster teams that he had to play with for years.
People still hold Booker's first few seasons against him where his best teammate was Eric Bledsoe and refuse to acknowledge that nobody was dragging that abomination of a team anywhere. People don't change their opinions regardless of context or evidence.
Book played about 6 seasons before he even made the Playoffs so I'm not getting what you mean. He literally just started making the playoffs lol and they didn't make the playoffs until they got Paul. He couldn't even get his team there.
That's not all that matters in the league. Playmaker 3 level scoring and defense are just as important as having a 40 inch vertical. Which isn't anything special in the league.
lolwut Booker wasn't doing shit until CP3 came and Mitchell never had a teammate as good. Utah was supposed to be a lotto team after Hayward left yet rookie Mitchell led them to the playoffs
I think Mitchell is the better offensive player bc he has that extra quickness to get to the rim where I feel book has to rely on his jumper a lil more, BUT book is a decent defender consistently and Mitchell still has some consistency to prove on that end. Dont think there's a consensus right now, id rather have Mitchell if I had to choose a no 1, but a number 2 its a toss up
Mitchell is honestly the more threatening offensive player due to his pull-up 3's.
I don't think people realize just how ridiculous a pull-up 3-point shooter this dude is, he's rivalling Steph this year in terms of volume and efficiency.
Obviously it's a small sample this year, but it's not like we haven't seen this before, what we did in the playoffs against the Clippers in 2021 and the Nuggets in 2020.
Booker honestly maximizes his talent more than Mitchell does, he's a smarter player, he's a better passer, and he's a better defensive player.
Mitchell has higher upside though and so far this year, he's playing closer to the top end of what he can be and when he plays like that, he clears Booker pretty easily IMO and I say that as a big fan of both players.
Since the bubble yes. During the Bubble, Mitchell was 1 missed wide open Conley 3 from edging out Jamal Murray as the best player in the bubble. Mitchell doesn’t get enough credit for going nuclear that series.
If Garland wasn’t on the team, yes. Since Garlands return Mitchell went from top 3 mvp to 6th. And not because of slowing down or worse performance. But because there’s another THE GUY to share the floor with.
Mitchell has been better in the playoffs and also hasn’t entered his prime.
I mean, offensively, I get the comparison. Spida can score with the best of them, but it’s not just about offense. Booker is a better playmaker and defender by far.
This sub is so dumb people actually think Mitchell defense is worse than devin booker you have to be kidding not only does Donovan Mitchell have a better defensive rating this season by 5+ but he also averages more blocks and steals y’all are crazy on here spouting nonsense lol
Im with Booker but there was never a consensus
As someone with a vested interest in this discourse, my read of popular perception is that up until 2 seasons ago Mitchell was unambiguously seen as superior, there was a year where people treated them as equal, and then last year Booker surpassed him in conventional wisdom.
Jazz fan. I wouldn't say unambiguous because Mitchell was a pretty bad point guard until recently and Book started to get some serious attention when he started breaking all those scoring records but yeah this is it basically.
what scoring records?
It was arbitrary the numbers but IIRC it was the year before the bubble year he started passing Kobe on a bunch of the "youngest guard to score x career points" type stats.
There was also the time he got the 10th highest score in a game
Didn't he also tie or get very close to Malone's franchise record for 40 point playoff games?
I’m with Booker and that’s saying something considering recent roster moves involving Donovan Mitchell and my favorite team
Can we all just at least agreed that Mitchell should have gotten ROTY over Simmons?
By the NBA rules and also precedent, Simmons was a rookie. If you consider him a rookie, Simmons was clear-cut a better player than Mitchell that year.
Yeah Simmons had that insane 20 game-ish stretch with Embiid out where he truly looked like the next big thing. Mitchell was great but Simmons was clearly better.
Lol no way people still talking about that, what year is this
But how will I fill my hate quote of the day?
Hell yeah I agree we should never talk about the past, only the present
With such a tired boring discussion that’s been ran into the ground, yeah. Unless you got something new to add?
No Simmons was better
Let’s not rewrite history over the recent things with Ben Simmons. He was clearly better.
Over Simmons, no. Instead of Simmons and say he didn’t qualify, yes.
Why wouldn’t Simmons qualify? He didn’t even play in the preseason. Just summer league.
He went through a preseason and a whole training camp then got to be on an NBA roster for an entire year and adjust to the schedule and pro training and then another preseason and training camp. Rules are rules but it's always been a stupid rule to me
No? Ben was definitely better. Doesn’t matter what’s happened since then
I dunno. Mitchell had 5ppg more. Way better at the line. And was shooting 35% at the 3. And didn’t even have a year to rest before playing in the nba being conditioned and trained like Ben.
Nah you’re right, I was exaggerating Ben’s lead in the race. I do still think Ben was the right pick, but it was closer than I was giving it credit
It’s the height that gives Book the edge.
Also more consistent on offense and defense
Also body of work.
Has more referenced material in the literature.
M L A
Also a better player.
This sub will do anything to avoid saying something complimentary about Booker lol
It’s a small thing, but it’s nice to read stuff like this as a Suns fan. Sometimes I think I’m just a hardcore homer when I think this sub loves to hate him.
I’ve hated Booker for years and unfortunately I think the main reason is his face :/
LOL at least you’re self-aware mate
Most punchable face in the NBA
Is Blake Griffin dead?
His NBA career almost is
Also the most kissable 😳😳
They hate on both of these dudes tbh
Not anymore
I think I could just as easily argue it’s the athleticism that gives mitchell the edge. Fun players to compare for sure
His wingspan is 2 inches longer than bookers as well.
Mitchell does have some nasty dunks for sure.
and the voice
Doesn’t Mitchell have a bigger wingspan?
They are actually pretty evenly matched, with Booker slightly ahead in most areas. Mitchell is better driving the ball and finishing at the rim, while Booker has the edge pretty much everywhere else. Both elite guards and very fun to watch.
>Booker has the edge everywhere else I think that means they’re not evenly matched.
Driving and finishing at the rim are so important for a SG, though.
if Mitchell maintains this level of play (which I don’t think he will) then I think you can make a legitimate argument for him over Booker
Yeah I don't buy that he's suddenly a 42% three point shooter overnight He actually has had FEWER of his threes assisted this year than last year so unless he became Steph Curry at age 26 which is unlikely he's just having a hot streak on the exact same quality of looks I've seen some people say he's just getting much better looks in Cleveland than in Utah but statistically this doesn't really appear to be the case
I buy it. He has impeccable form and has shot 39% before
I mean, Stef Curry became Stef Curry around age 26, for whatever that’s worth
What if it’s a mental thing where he THINKS he’s getting better looks in Cleveland?!? Lol
I think there is something to this idea. He probably feels less pressure to be the main go to guy in Cleveland. The Cavs have any number of guys who can take over scoring, so maybe it just frees up his mind, takes some pressure off...
Mitchell had the best spacing in the league his last 3 years here, he’s definitely not getting better looks. He just one of the streakiest players in the league and is on a good one right now. He’ll have a month where he shoots sub 30% from 3 and he’ll wind up back at 35-37% for the year.
I have watched every single game this year, I’m not sure about 3 point % but the dude looks like an all nba player. Someone who can win you championship.
streaky star, definitely has all the tools to put it together but like all jump shooting stars (except Steph somehow) there’s gonna be a period of time where jumpers don’t fall. i think in Cleveland he’ll benefit most from having quality around the rim outlets to keep up offensive production and obviously playing with a true top 10 playmaker in the league so he can focus on scoring more
I think more sample size is needed but this man is legit. I’m not sure I would take any SG in east over him.
oh absolutely not, best SG in the East and really probably best solo star shooting guard in the league
I've watched many more of his games than that, and you're right. However in a few weeks, maybe a few months, he'll have a streak of games where he can't hit his shots and doubles down on forcing them rather than deferring to teammates. He will singlehandedly lose winning games through pure bullheaded arrogance. It will be infuriating, you will want to throw things and scream because you know he's too good for this. Donovan Mitchell is simultaneously an All-NBA player and a man who would be lucky to make an All-Star team. He will alternating those positions for multi-week stretches every season and you just have to hope that they're timed well enough. I love Mitchell to death but I could have strangled him with my bare hands after 20% of the games we played last seasons.
I think you overemphasize his streakiness. He definitely held the ball too much at the end of games for the jazz, but I put that on Snyder as much as Mitchell. He may regress to the mean on his 3 pt shooting a bit, but 42% isn’t totally out of the question for him either. I also think he gets into a rhythm off the dribble, and so looking for his own shot more this year (from 3) could be helping him. He has all the tools to be an all nba offensive force for the next 7-8 years. I miss him as a jazz fan, and don’t find as much fault with his game as other jazz fans seem to, although it seems other Reddit jazz fans didn’t have any problems with him at all until the jazz started losing some games we were expected to win last year. Hope he wins a chip in Cleveland, and than by some miracle, decides to come back to Utah in a few years. We love you Donny. We miss you Donny.
This is all before he’d be arguably entering his prime
> unless he became Steph Curry at age 26 which is unlikely he's just having a hot streak on the exact same quality of looks Not that I think Mitchell has made that big a leap but he's been close to 40% before, and Steph Curry wasn't even Steph Curry until he was around 26.
Steph shot above 40% every single year lol he was never a “hot streak”’ player His percentages have always been the same since he was a rookie. Just increased volume,
> Steph shot above 40% every single year Absolutely, as long as you wait an entire season and look at the percentages at the end (and you ignore his huge growth as a player and focus exclusively on his shooting). If you look at 20 game stretches, Curry definitely was streaky. Give Donovan a full season and he looks a lot less 'streaky' too- 42% after shooting 39% on near league-leading volume isn't really out there.
Didn’t Steph Curry start playing like Steph Curry around 26 though?
Let's not forget Steph wasn't the player he is now until he was around the same age as Donavan. The narrative around him changed drastically the season before his MVP. There were genuine discussions of whether they should've traded him instead of Monta Ellis. Not saying Donavan will become the best 3point shooter ever cause steph was a great shooter before he broke out. However, I don't think it's a nuts idea to think Donavan has even more room to grow.
Mitchell’s having an insane start but I don’t think it’s fair to just ignore all his flaws on the jazz when we don’t use a <20 game sample of their best stretch to evaluate any other player. Booker has clearly been better over their respective careers
Flaws like which ones? Im a new nba fan and I only started watching this season so mitchell has been good for the entire time Ive been watching. Does he struggle being consistent or is there another flaw to his game that just hasnt shown so far?
His defense was mediocre. He had stretches where his shooting was hot, then very cold - streaky basically. Also his last season with Utah just seemed very low energy compared to his earlier seasons and his current season with the Cavs. Maybe it was injury, maybe he wasn’t vibing with Rudy, maybe he was just bored with Utah - who knows. But I think it’s fair to say Book has been consistently better.
Donovan is a career 28ppg on 56% TS in the playoffs. He lit up the bubble, averaged 30 the next year and played well as a rookie eliminating westbrook + PG. never had a player the caliber of CP3 next to him either. I think it’s been very close career wise.
A lot of guys had outlier scoring/shooting in the bubble. He’s had some very good playoff series but he had legitimate flaws on the jazz that really hurt the team. Last year he was like trae young level on defense, a terrible playmaker, and would go full tunnel vision hero ball in a lot of fourth quarters losing the jazz a lot of games. He basically became the classic undersized two guards that can’t do anything but score, which is like the worst archetype for star players there is for winning. It only works if you have a big elite floor general next to them that’s a great scoring threat themselves, eg kyrie lebron and kyrie harden. And for someone that could do nothing but score he was really bad at it in the mavs series. He’s obviously trying a lot harder on D and with playmaking so far this season, as well as being a better scorer within the flow of the offense and being less of a ball stopper, and if he keeps this play up for a couple seasons he’d probably be above booker, but as of now he’s not.
Jazz still had the best offensive rating in the league last season with no other stars so I think the criticisms of mitchell’s play on that end are overstated. Agree that booker played better defense the past couple seasons though
You could say that about anyone on a 3 week run. Booker's body of work is better.
Is it though? What makes it better?
Reasonable question. Zero significant plausible answers. That’s why you’re unrightfully getting downvoted
NBA Finals
Why does devin get credit for that though? He simply had a good playoff bracket and a good team. If we want to compare playoff careers, donny has been better as a playoff performer. Impact metrics didn’t rate booker highly that playoffs are all, and I tend to agree, outside of a few high scoring outbursts he was fairly meh. Strange argument imo
Donovan is my favorite player but if I’m building a team I’m taking the guy who is bigger and has scored 40 points multiple times in the finals
Follow up question. Not trying to prove a point with this. If Booker replaces Mitchell as Goberts Co star during the jazz run, do they have more, less, or the same success?
I think more because there was some real beef between Mitchell and Gobert, and I think Mitchell was cutting off his nose to spite his face by essentially ignoring Gobert on the court. This season kind of proves it to me because Mitchell is playing with a fire he didn’t have before this year. So I’m going to venture that Booker would handle playing with Gobert better based on the dumpster fires he played with before the recent turnaround.
Prob less, but idt Mitchell makes the finals on the Suns in 2021 either. Less than ideal fits for both.
Mitchell is better at operating in high ball screens, Book is better at running off pin downs and DHOs. So yeah, if they had switched teams I think both would have been worse off.
def less imo
less imo
I’d say worse regular season success, better playoff success. For example, a major reason we lost to the Clippers in the playoffs is because we couldn’t defend against a small ball strat against Gobert. Book is better on defense and could have been the difference in that series. And their offense is similar enough.
They’re close to the same level
With Mitchell you get a scoring machine. With Booker you get a scoring machine who also plays defense and is taller.
Mitchell is also the better playmaker and playoff performer. Mitchell has improved defensively this year, and it’s not like book is some high impact defensive player, he’s more like curry esque impact on that end
There's no world where Mitchell is a better playmaker than Booker. Booker has more than double the games with 7+ assists as Mitchell. You can argue playoffs, but only one of them has made the Finals
I would pretty easily take Booker. More adaptable with any offense. And yeah, size helps.
What does that even mean? Mitchell has led a better offense than Booker literally every single season of his career. Why does adaptability matter more than effectiveness? Also he’s done it on 2 different teams. Seems pretty adaptable to me
Mitchell led a team of scorers, literally a team that fielded 5 15-20ppg scorers and only one defender. In games that Mitchell did not play the Jazz still had the leagues best offense. The Jazz also built an entire offensive system around maximizing Mitchell's ability to collapse the defense on drives.
Meh the team ORtgs in 2021 and 2022 were nearly identical (Jazz +0.2 and +0.5, but Booker actually has a better on court ORtg in 2021 (+1.6) and they were dead even in 2022 per nba.com). So don't think this should be used as an advantage for either player.
that’s just not true lmao
I get the size argument. Not really the adaptable. They're both good volume scorers with a little playmaking. Fits in the same to teams
I May be biased, but Book is a pretty good playmaker. He’s been running our offense great since Paul went out.
And same with Donovan when Garland was out, so..
Booker is the best playmaker on the Suns outside of CP3, and has been running the offence while CP3 has been out. Not sure what you're talking about.
I mean Mitchell might be the best playmaker outside of Garland and was averaging like 7 assists while he was out.
So this dude was wrong about both Booker & Mitchell
Cool. The difference still isn't a chasm. At all. What are you talking about?
I was told that Booker’s assists were empty stats cause the Suns stink. Why number go up when team do good?
Booker's stats are empty until they Suns win. Then they're only because CP3 is on the team.
Notorious choker and not even that good cp3?????? So many conflicting narratives.
I actually don’t get the size argument. Don has the bigger wingspan and weighs more, so at most it’s probably a wash in that department.
They are similar offensively and Book clears Mitchell defensively so yes it’s still Booker.
I love Mitchell, but booker is better
Booker for sure
Book is not a ball dominant player (tho he has the capability to be), is bigger, more consistent, plays better defense, and has a game that is more likely to age well. Next question.
Being a top notch star and not being “ball dominate” is so underrated in this age of basketball. We see more and more heliocentric stars and the success just hasn’t followed that. Book showing he doesn’t need crazy high usage to elevate a team is pretty big in my opinion
Well usage and ball dominance are two pretty different things. Book does use a lot of possessions, but he doesn’t need to be on the ball. His favorite way to attack is to come off curls and screens, catch the ball, make one or two quick moves, and make a decision to either score or assist. I agree that this style of scoring is extremely underrated, but it’s not necessarily reflected in usage stats.
Ya but that’s exactly what I’m trying to say, he gets plenty of “use” but isn’t a high usage rating player. The best player at this all time is curry, I can’t think of a better non ball dominant player that can elevate a team like him in history
Only thing offensively that book is way better at is rising up high from the mid range. No one quite has his opportunity of openness with how high he jumps on his mid range jumper except maybe KD cause spider arms. Defense also goes to book just cause of size.
Not just because of size.....Booker tries harder and is overall a better defender.
Fair
Yeah Bookers mid range game is generational imo, so beautiful to watch.
Disagree with the size argument. Don has a bigger wingspan and weighs more. Booker is the better defender due to effort imo.
not just because of size. his effort is way higher on defense.
>No one quite has his opportunity of openness with how high he jumps on his mid range jumper except maybe KD cause spider arms. Lavine jumps crazy high on his. Especially off balance
Booker’s defense is above average these days. Especially in transition. Dude can play CB for a couple of NFL teams
Wet like Book. What hit song was written with Mitchell bars?
Game aside, Book never bitched about being on shitty PHX teams for years and years and years. Mitchell bitched about being on a team that was in the playoffs repeatedly during his formative NBA years. I take the dude that’s been to the finals with a franchise that didn’t look good for 80% of his career
Amen. Booker became my favorite player when he signed his big contract extension and the team was still pretty dogshit. There was no news that he wanted out but I was still shocked because “who does that”?
It’s always been booker
Booker is overall a better player. Not to mention his shooting makes him a better fit with other players.
Didn’t know this was ever a debate. Happy to be fact checked on this but Booker seems to be a far more reliable scorer. Man can also go absolutely nuclear at a peak-Klay level.
Definitely. Have to consider body of work.
They're very even but iIf I'm drafting and have to pick between the two I'm going to go with the guy who isn't 6'1".
Is he really 6'1? He looks at least 6'3 to me. Maybe I'm stupid He's definitely taller than Garland. Who is also listed at 6'1. Accurately or not, I'm not sure.
His wingspan is also huge even if he is short which is what really matters imo.
Dude gets to 30 like it’s nothing, he is playing at all nba level
6’10” wingspan bro. Who cares if he’s 6’1” with those arms and those hops.
I'd say Booker because there are some superstars (KD, Dame, CP3) who openly said they want to either play with or their favorite player is Booker so they see some things we don't see.
yes
Booker is just the higher end player
That's a damn good question, op. Booker has the jump shooting edge, but Donovan has the drive and kick edge. Height seems irrelevant, since Donovan has a good wing span.
Booker Mitchell brown are the top 3 sg in the nba
Spida is having a better season than Booker, but I'd still take Booker though based on the body of work. That's not to say Mitchell won't end up becoming better than Booker though
I still think Booker is better
It’s Booker
Yeah.
Booker all the way. But I’m so confused for years now why is it always these 2 compared?
This question really depends on what you are looking for in the player. Mitchell is a better overall shooter and passer. His defense is underrated because when he played with the Jazz he didn't really play defense. They needed him 100% on offense because the team would never make .500 without him dedicating his time on offense. Devin is a more complete player in that he has a bigger arsenal and can defend more positions. It also seems like he puts in more effort than almost any player in the league. If we went off this season alone, so far I'm taking Mitchell any day.
Biased opinion but I’d take Booker simply for the fact that he makes the right play and lets the game come to him now. The amount of doubles where he simply passes instead of making the hero play that leads to a good possession is much higher than Mitchell. I feel booker is the perfect number 2 and Mitchell is a slightly flawed number 1. Just too short
Ones led a team to the NBA finals Results matter. And I'm not even a booker guy
Booker right now. Donovan appears to have taken a leap tho. I also think Spida is a superior leader and is better as far as intangibles. Good comparison. I’d take either one
Yeah. Easily imo.
I don’t mind people saying book is better but what makes this “easily”
Defense is half the game. Which means Donovan is practically asleep half the game. Similar offensive bag but Booker is the better playmaker. And size. Only thing Donovan has over Booker is athleticism. Very obvious choice if you ask me.
Defense mostly. Booker holds his own but you can target Mitchell, especially in the playoffs.
Give me Mitchell.
I think they are close as of now. Booker is a bit more polished with his shooting whereas Mitchell’s physicality and athleticism take the nod. Mitchell’s physical strength and athleticism could give him a potential higher ceiling than Booker. One thing though. When Mitchell explodes with his body, to be honest it looks pretty scary to guard a player like him. It is almost like guarding a small guard version of Giannis even though Mitchell is much smaller. Booker lacks in that explosiveness department quite a bit. Mitchell could potentially be a player playing like both Booker and Westbrook at the same time If I want a No.1 for my team Booker and Mitchell would be a toss up. But if I want a No.2, I will hands down take Mitchell.
Mitchell is definitely the better shooter
You could make an argument for 3pt shooting, but it’s not even close from mid range, idk what you’ve been watching. If all you know of Mitchell is this season playing on the Cavs, then maybe I get why you feel that. But I’m sorry, this debate has raged for many seasons, and shooting has never been an edge Mitchell has had over Book.
Uh, he shoot more 3s on a higher percentage lol what are we arguing?
Excuse me waiter? I’ll take the guy who dropped 70 please
Booker is way more complete. I think Spider has a higher capacity to put up huge offensive numbers night to night.
Yeah I think it's pretty clear at this point
Donovan avg 30 on 50-40-90 rn nothing is clear with those two
I’m taking Mitchell, way better athleticism
I don’t get the “Booker easily” crowd
I think it's for two reasons: 1. People don't buy that Mitchell is suddenly a 42% three point shooter on high volume out of nowhere 2. Mitchell is a significantly worse defender
DM has always been a good shooter. I don’t think 42% will hold on the volume of threes he takes but he’s been one of the best catch and shoot players in the league and above average on pull ups for a couple of seasons now
Whys that? I base it on this. https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/devin_booker_vs_donovan_mitchell.htm Booker is a better playmaker, less athleticism sure but still a better defender and 3 level scorer than Mitchell. More playoff success and more lack luster teams that he had to play with for years.
Why would you use career stats when talking about a players current talent lol
People still hold Booker's first few seasons against him where his best teammate was Eric Bledsoe and refuse to acknowledge that nobody was dragging that abomination of a team anywhere. People don't change their opinions regardless of context or evidence.
More playoff success is the reason
Book played about 6 seasons before he even made the Playoffs so I'm not getting what you mean. He literally just started making the playoffs lol and they didn't make the playoffs until they got Paul. He couldn't even get his team there.
true booker is totally a bum for not being able to get tyler ulis and dragan bender to the playoffs
That's not all that matters in the league. Playmaker 3 level scoring and defense are just as important as having a 40 inch vertical. Which isn't anything special in the league.
20 games shouldn’t change your opinion. Lemme know when Donovan Mitchell heads to the finals and scores at a consistency of Dbook.
Devin Booker plays with a way better team tbf
I’ve learned recently that you’re supposed to analyze players by how their teams perform, rather than the individual himself.
Then that means Doncic sucks by that logic so
Does he? Are you confidently taking 37 year old CP3, Ayton, and Bridges over Garland, Mobley, and Allen?
I meant he did while 45 played in utah. Look at how 45 plays with a team that’s of the same caliber as book
Idk if 22-yo Ayton, 36-yo CP3, and Bridges are “way better” than Conley, Gobert and Bojangles.
Cp3 > Conley Bridges > Bojan Ayton = Gobert
Which were never healthy for a playoff run.
When CP3 got injured vs the Lakers, Book stepped up. That’s what superstars do.
lolwut Booker wasn't doing shit until CP3 came and Mitchell never had a teammate as good. Utah was supposed to be a lotto team after Hayward left yet rookie Mitchell led them to the playoffs
They were also supposed to be a lottery team when Mitchell left
season over already? you think Jazz will be a playoff team by end of season?
Booker's Suns were consistently the worst team in the league until Chris Paul went there.
I think Mitchell is the better offensive player bc he has that extra quickness to get to the rim where I feel book has to rely on his jumper a lil more, BUT book is a decent defender consistently and Mitchell still has some consistency to prove on that end. Dont think there's a consensus right now, id rather have Mitchell if I had to choose a no 1, but a number 2 its a toss up
Donovan mitchell is underrated, dudes been killing it since his rookie year.
Mitchell is honestly the more threatening offensive player due to his pull-up 3's. I don't think people realize just how ridiculous a pull-up 3-point shooter this dude is, he's rivalling Steph this year in terms of volume and efficiency. Obviously it's a small sample this year, but it's not like we haven't seen this before, what we did in the playoffs against the Clippers in 2021 and the Nuggets in 2020. Booker honestly maximizes his talent more than Mitchell does, he's a smarter player, he's a better passer, and he's a better defensive player. Mitchell has higher upside though and so far this year, he's playing closer to the top end of what he can be and when he plays like that, he clears Booker pretty easily IMO and I say that as a big fan of both players.
Yes
Imo it's about preference - just like Coke and Pepsi loll they are similar enough
Booker has been better since the bubble. Donovan has some catching up to do, but he’s on pace rn…
Since the bubble yes. During the Bubble, Mitchell was 1 missed wide open Conley 3 from edging out Jamal Murray as the best player in the bubble. Mitchell doesn’t get enough credit for going nuclear that series.
If Garland wasn’t on the team, yes. Since Garlands return Mitchell went from top 3 mvp to 6th. And not because of slowing down or worse performance. But because there’s another THE GUY to share the floor with. Mitchell has been better in the playoffs and also hasn’t entered his prime.
This sub hates the suns that much that people are saying Donovan is an equal offensive threat. Ok
I mean, offensively, I get the comparison. Spida can score with the best of them, but it’s not just about offense. Booker is a better playmaker and defender by far.
Spida clears
I've always had Donovan
Mitchell is better, he has better playoff stats worth a team than wasn’t as well constructed so he’s much better.
Mitchell clears
This sub is so dumb people actually think Mitchell defense is worse than devin booker you have to be kidding not only does Donovan Mitchell have a better defensive rating this season by 5+ but he also averages more blocks and steals y’all are crazy on here spouting nonsense lol
Defense stats are notoriously awful at telling who is actually a good defender. Otherwise Drummond would be amazing.