Donovan Mitchell made his first appearance back with Utah since he was traded from the Jazz to the Cavaliers during the offseason.
Mitchell and former teammate Rudy Gobert were moved in mega-deals that brought several players back to the Jazz including Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Malik Beasley, and several other assets including young players and plentiful first-round picks.
One of those young players, acquired for Gobert, was rookie big man Walker Kessler. During his return to Utah on Tuesday night, Mitchell said he pulled the former Auburn center aside so that he could have a conversation with him after the game.
Donovan Mitchell said after the game he pulled Walker Kessler aside to tell him to stop calling out which type of defense he was going to play.
Kessler kept calling out his own strategy whether he was going to drop or not, and it allowed Donovan to know how to attack him.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 11, 2023
Mitchell said he told Kessler that he needed to stop calling out what kind of defensive play he was going to run beforehand (via KSL):
“He calls out what coverage is going to be in before he is in it … So I knew what he was going to do before — like he calls ‘drop’ which means he’s going to be back, so I’m like cool, I’m going to shoot a three … I said that as you play guys who shoot threes off the dribble, they’re going to go at you … Don’t tell them the answer to the exam.”
According to Mitchell, the first-year big man would say out loud whether or not he was going to drop during his pick-and-roll coverage. This allowed the former Utah star to know exactly how to score against him.
6’1” Donovan Mitchell shrugging off 7’0” Lauri Markkanen and slipping a layup over 7’1” Walker Kessler. https://t.co/Gs9XPG72bR pic.twitter.com/dB1reMvqim
— Brayden Todd (@BraydenBallin) January 11, 2023
Mitchell described what Kessler did as giving him the answers to the test before he got a chance to even take it. Perhaps that is why he was easily able to score against Utah even despite a massive height disadvantage.
It is pretty shocking that Kessler has presumably called out his plays all season and has remained as effective as he has, recording one of the highest block percentages we’ve ever seen from a rookie. One can only imagine how much more effective he can be if he implements Mitchell’s advice.
Decisions like this one, to help the rookie even though they were never teammates, explain why Mitchell was greeted warmly by fans upon his return to Vivint Arena in Utah.
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