Donovan Mitchell's sophomore season in the NBA came to a close on Wednesday night, as the Houston Rockets eliminated the Utah Jazz from the playoffs by the final of 100-93. Mitchell, who led the Jazz in scoring during the regular season with 23.8 points per game, finished with just 12 points and six rebounds in Game 5.
Immediately following Utah's loss to Houston, Dwyane Wade took to twitter to congratulate Donovan Mitchell on a great season, and to say he can't wait to "get into the lab" with the 22-year old guard this summer.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1121274294439272449
https://twitter.com/_/status/1121289560112148480
If you've been following Mitchell's journey throughout his young NBA career, it shouldn't come as a surprise that D-Wade is looking to take Mitchell under his wing this off-season.
Earlier this month, Mitchell admitted to wondering whether he was just a "one-hit wonder" following a stellar rookie campaign - but he turned to D-Wade, as well as Chris Paul, for guidance.
"I think what made it worse was when we started losing as a team, we were losing games badly," Mitchell told ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "You know, we lost to Dallas, I think, by 50 points. There was times where you were like, you know, maybe like a one-hit wonder. Maybe just because no one knew who I was and I came and just shocked the NBA."
"I turned to my guys Dwyane [Wade] and Chris [Paul]..." Mitchell told Nichols. "... I talked to Dwyane for about two hours. You know, I just talked to him just about what to expect in Year 2. For me, having the bull's-eye on your back was a different situation to be in. Having everybody target you, specifically, really, you know, opened my eyes a little bit. And it's one thing to hear it, and it's another thing to go through it."
