Ajay Mitchell Game 3 Start Encouraging Sign for OKC Thunder

In the moments before the ball was tipped on Saturday, it was impossible not to think about his journey. A multi-year mid-major prospect who impressed enough to be selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The No. 38 pick dazzled in training camp and cracked Mark Daigneault's rotation on night one, stepping on the floor in a surprise during the 2024-25 season opener in a season with championship aspirations. Mitchell never fell out of Daigneault's rotation until he suffered a turf toe injury in January. That effectively ended his season, the then-rookie returned for the final two games of the regular season before being sparingly used in the NBA Playoffs for the Thunder's title team.

This season, Mitchell has burst onto the scene to the tune of 6th man of the year talks and has had more runway to show his scoring prowess and playmaking ability to help this offense. Still, Mitchell has only played in 93 games to this point in his NBA career.

During the 2025-26 campaign, the UC Santa Barbara product was able to post 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, while shooting 48% from the floor, 34% from the 3-point line and 87% at the charity stripe.

On Saturday, in the Thunder's Game 3 tilt with the Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City was down Jalen Williams as the All-NBA swingman deals with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. This thrust Mitchell into his first career playoff start and just his 18th start in his entire career. On the road in the playoffs against a hungry Suns team looking to avoid being swept.

Mitchell was fearless. He launched 20 shots in Game 3 en route to 15 points, hauled in six rebounds, dished out two assists and was a +15 in 33 minutes of work. This was not the most efficent night from the second year guard who shot 25% from the floor, 20% from beyond the arc and went 4-for-4 at the free throw line. The most encouraging sign? He did not shy away from the challenge. The moment wasn't too bright. It gives an encouraging sign that Mitchell will make the most of this opportunity as Williams remains week-to-week.

"He's obviously not shy, so that's a start. Winners fail and losers hide. He wasn't hiding," Daigneault said of Mitchell's Game 3 postgame. "That's one of the things I love about this team. We've got a bunch of guys who lean into the competition. It's not always gonna be perfect. I don't know what he shot from the floor, but it wasn't overly efficient. He's not shying away from the moment. He's aggressive and he executes. I think he obviously took a lot of shots, but he executes offense, he executes defense."

After getting a chance to see the game back on film, there were moments beyond the efficiency that Mitchell needs to clean up. Though, as Daigneault pointed out during Saturday's practice, it is a welcome sign that he is playing with confidence. Failing with confidence at least has the upside of it working out, rather than being passive and failing, which offers no possible reward.

Mitchell has always been able to learn lessons quickly in the NBA and some of the adjustments he needs to make after Game 3 he has already flashed throughout his NBA career.

The biggest area of growth for Mitchell is letting the game slow down for him as a decision maker. At times in Game 3, it felt like he was pre determining scoring chances as opposed to taking what the defense gave him. This has never been a concern for his game before and it is easy to imagine why the energy was different in his first career playoff start.

This was a strong baseline showing and the confidence everyone should have in Mitchell's three level scoring ability and leverage a defense with his passing chops should leave the NBA world encouraged that the Thunder can navigate life until Williams returns.

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