Davion Mitchell went out a few days ago and said that his personal goal is to win the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award. The last time a Heat player won the award was 26 years ago, when Alonzo Mourning took home the honors in back-to-back years (1999, 2000). You’ll never see me rag on people for having goals, so let’s see how he can get this done.
And before I get into this, let’s make a few things clear: Mitchell is already one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He is also one of the most aggressive defenders in the NBA. You can tell when he’s on the court defensively.
For him to be a defensive player of the year, he will have to essentially follow the Marcus Smart approach, as he’s the last guard to win the award and was the first guard to win in 26 years, since Gary Payton. What he did that season for the Celtics was nothing short of impressive.
Could Davion Mitchell follow in Marcus Smart's footsteps to win DPOY?
First, Smart was very clearly the leader of the Celtics' defense, which was, by many metrics, the best in the NBA. The Celtics that season were first in defensive rating, opponent points per game, opponent field goal percentage, and opponent 3-point percentage.
Of course, Smart wasn’t the only quality defender the Celtics had, as they had a starting lineup that year featuring Al Horford, Robert Williams, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. But the defense would not have been as good without Smart’s contributions.
Fortunately for Mitchell (or unfortunately for this award), the Heat have exceptional defensive personnel around him. And it’s arguable that they are better than the ones Smart was around.
That’s where the second thing that Smart did becomes important: being able to switch onto anyone. Smart was the best guard his size in terms of switching onto big men, and was famously used as a Joel Embiid defender. If Mitchell can show the same abilities, that’s where he starts getting into legitimate all-defensive conversations as a guard.
Lastly, he needs to stay healthy and hope that a few of the other candidates don’t reach the 65-game threshold. Of course, I will never wish injury on anyone, but this is the reality of winning an award like this as a dark horse candidate. And yes, this would have to include Bam Adebayo for Mitchell to have a chance.
It is undoubtedly an uphill battle. But then again, Smart was outside the top 30 in preseason Defensive Player of the Year odds the year he won it. There’s a legitimate path for Mitchell to do the same, no matter how outlandish that sounds.
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