The Miami Heat have (somewhat unfairly) put a ton of pressure on Davion Mitchell's shoulders heading into the first year of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. For better or worse, he's either going to prove the Heat right, or it's going to become abundantly obvious that the Heat needs an upgrade at the point guard position.
Miami is internally betting on the former, hoping that Mitchell proves he's a more-than-capable starting point guard in the league. That may be why they've already lined up financially in a way that they can re-sign Mitchell next summer.
According to Heat insider Barry Jackson, the financial projections after the Pelle Larsson contract extension will give the Heat the ability to re-sign Mitchell next summer while also giving them the ability to use their mid-level exception.
"After giving Pelle Larsson a contract extension, Miami stands more than $27 million below the projected luxury tax line... That leaves the Heat in position to re-sign Davion Mitchell [and] use its full $15.8 million mid-level exception next summer."
Davion Mitchell could fall into the Heat's big plans next summer
It's a pretty sweet spot for the Heat to be in heading into the second year of the Giannis era.
Of course, this entirely hinges on Mitchell being able to prove the Heat right. You'd have to imagine that Miami isn't just going to roll out an extension for Mitchell just for the sake of it. He'll have to prove it. And that's certainly the hope heading into this season.
After his first full season with the Heat, the team has clearly taken the training wheels off Mitchell. For better or worse, the Heat's plan at the point guard position will live or die with Mitchell. There are currently no backup plans for the Heat.
Miami has supreme confidence in Mitchell. And their actions (or inaction) this offseason have made that abundantly clear.
But, again, there's no guarantee the next 12 months with Mitchell will play out exactly as the Heat desires it to.
In a vacuum, in an ideal world, Mitchell proves he can be a capable point guard (perhaps a poor man's Jrue Holiday next to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo), and then reward him with a fair contract extension next summer.
That's what the Heat is hoping for. That's what they're expecting. Their financial books are set up for such a scenario. The question is, will it all work out that easily?
Time will ultimately tell whether this "plan" will end up working out for the Heat, but it's looking more and more like this is the plan. It's up to Mitchell to push the Heat to follow through with it.
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