Thunder's most pleasant surprise early in 2024-25 season
Yesterday at 10:17 PM
Early in the 2024-25 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are making their claim as the No. 1 team in the Western Conference and a legitimate NBA Finals contender. Even with the injury to Chet Holmgren, the team hasn't missed a beat, continuing their winning ways. With a little over a quarter of the season played, the Thunder have had a pleasant surprise on their roster.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the Thunder continue to draft well and develop players. Sam Presti is among the very best in the NBA in terms of executives. The Thunder correctly identified Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a player worth trading away a multiple-time All-Star in Paul George. Jalen Williams is blossoming into an All-Star player himself.
Aaron Wiggins was a second-round pick and is playing a major role for this team as a key rotation guy. Cason Wallace is another very good Presti draft pick. The jury is still out on Jaylin Williams, but he was showing flashes last season before suffering an injury in the preseason.
But the No. 1 most pleasant surprise for the Thunder this season has been second-round pick Ajay Mitchell. The UC Santa Barbara product is just the latest example highlighting Presti's basketball acumen.
Ajay Mitchell's importance for the Thunder
The No. 38 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, it wasn't a given that Mitchell was going to be in the rotation for the Thunder immediately this season. It seemed far more likely that any live game reps he was going to get would come from the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue.
That came to fruition when he signed a two-way contract with the Thunder right before the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. But flash-forward to the present, and he's not only become a key player in the Thunder's rotation, but he's making a strong case to have his contract converted to a standard deal.
On Mitchell's current two-way contract, he's limited to only 50 regular season games, and he will not be eligible for the playoffs. He's already hit 24 games, just about halfway to the 50-game mark.
For Mitchell to have his contract converted, the team would have to open up a roster spot either via trade or by cutting a player. They currently have 15 standard contracts on their roster. The Thunder had to sign Branden Carlson to their 15th roster spot to address their frontcourt injury concerns.
But the Thunder are going to have to decide on Mitchell before he runs out of available games. It seems like almost a given that he will be on a standard deal before the playoffs begin.
In the 24 games that Mitchell has played, he's been averaging 5.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists with splits of 47.8 percent shooting from the field, 41.9 percent shooting from the three-point line, and 80 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
One of the biggest areas that Mitchell has been able to contribute for the Thunder is as a primary ball-handler and decision-maker. He's been tasked with playing that role for the second unit. He's also been a solid defensive player as well. At a little over 16 minutes per game, he's one of the Thunder's top ten players in terms of playing time.
Mitchell has been able to play off-ball minutes as well, sharing backcourt duties with another ball-handler. He's made the case for a regular roster spot, all that remains is how the Thunder go about locking him in.
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