Ajay Mitchell Continues to Impress OKC Thunder Coaches in Expanding Role

Oklahoma City has built an impressive core of talent through the draft and young talent acquisition. Over the years, the front office has been able to strike gold with players like Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, and of course Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was traded to the Thunder after his rookie season.

Building through the draft has allowed OKC to implement its culture and style of play, and the players have bought into the mold of the team. The team’s development and each individual’s development has grown together.

Oklahoma City has also been able to hit on picks late in the draft, though, and there are dole players sprinkled throughout the roster that could be categorized as second round steals. The newest addition to that group seems to be rookie guard Ajay Mitchell, who has been a true contributor for the Thunder. At first, his minutes looked like a rotation experiment, but now it’s the opposite. Oklahoma City relies on a specific role from him night in and night out. He’s a real player.

Before the game in New Orleans on Saturday, his head coach raved about the early returns.

“The role stuff unfolds as it does, they kind of tell you what they're ready for, and you just got to listen,” Mark Daigneault said. “And so he's obviously told us that he can play, you know, and that he can make some plays. He's had some stretches of games where he's, like, controlled the game, and been very intriguing there. So we'll continue to take his lead on that stuff.

“What I've seen so far is just a very predictable, reliable, impactful player despite his inexperience. I mean, he plays both ends of the floor. He's got really, really good competitiveness and strength defensively, like he had some plays where he got caught on Scottie Barnes couple times, once in transition and once on the switch where he's, like, guarding Scotty Barnes, that's not an easy thing for a rookie point guard and he did a great job.”

Mitchell is averaging 5.8 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 rebounds for the Thunder this season while shooting 48.2% from the floor and 41.9% from 3-point range. His numbers don’t pop off the page, but that’s exactly what Daigneault and his staff like. He’s a consistent, predictable player who has an impact on the game each and every night. He’s ultra efficient and has been able to lead the second unit.

Mitchell has been a sneaky good defender, too. He’s averaging 0.9 steals per game in just 16 minutes of action and has been physical for a rookie point guard. He hasn’t backed down from any matchup and the lights never get too bright.

“He has been impressive in his ability to just kind of take it all in,” Daigneault said. “He's kind of seemed like he's played well beyond his years so far.”

Mitchell certainly hasn’t looked like a rookie, and that’s evident in his distribution of playing time. Not many rookies get consistent minutes on a team like the Thunder, and he’s adjusting better than anyone could’ve predicted. Both Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams received early and consistent playing time — except they were lottery picks in the first round.

As the 38th overall pick, nobody expected Mitchell to be relied upon this early in his career. For the Thunder, though, that’s part of the process. You can never predict the lineup early on — you have to rely on the players to step into an opportunity. Oklahoma City wasn’t stingy in its preseason lineup expectations and let Mitchell play his way into the rotation.

“We try to stay open to what the guys tell us,” Daigneault said about keeping an open mind with the rotations. “And you know, you never know what's gonna happen, taking some injuries early in the season.

“He came in during Summer League and looked like he belonged there, very comfortable and confident and efficient. And then he came in in September in our gym when we started to ramp up and he was clearing all the hurdles. They played pickup. He was impressive in those runs. And then in training camp he just he looked like he belonged.”

The Thunder needed a secondary creator in the playoffs a season ago. Even though Mitchell is a rookie, he has been able to slide into that role off the bench for Oklahoma City early on. Each minute he gets will pay off down the road, and by the looks of it, his development could impact the Thunder sooner rather than later.

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