Mark Patton: Huggable Ajay Mitchell Continues Breakout Basketball Season with Grand Performance

Overview:

Oddsmakers are listing Ajay Mitchell as one of the top two candidates to win this year’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as the league’s top reserve player

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just completed an exhaustive, 55-point effort in a victory of consequence, but the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player had one more point to make.

He wanted to embrace the moment — a double-overtime triumph over the Indiana Pacers in a rematch of NBA Finalists — with one of his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates.

He hurried across the court and gathered Ajay Mitchell into his arms.

“Way to play,” Gilgeous-Alexander whispered into his ear. “You’re a pretty good basketball player.”

Mitchell’s evening of Oct. 23 at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse had been emotional from the opening tip.

When the former UC Santa Barbara Gaucho was asked afterward about his career-best, 26-point night, his thoughts pivoted to the hugs that someone else had given him his entire life.

“Today was my grandma’s birthday,” he replied during the post-game news conference. “She passed a year ago, so it was a little special for me coming into tonight.

“I thought of her this whole night.”

Grandma Jenny was the one who would watch him after school in Liege, Belgium, while her daughter, Fabienne Wagemans, was at work.

“She would do everything with him,” Wagemans later told The Oklahoman’s Justin Martinez. “She was crazy about him. Really crazy about him.”

Grandma always made sure to ride shotgun when her daughter drove to Mitchell’s games, near and far.

“She was always there — always there for me,” he said. “She was definitely on my mind this whole night.

“I’m glad I got to play that way for her. She means the world to me, so I’m glad I did that.”

So was Gilgeous-Alexander.

“I was proud of him,” he said when asked about the post-game hug. “I was struggling late in the fourth and into the early overtime, and he was carrying us.

“I was just overjoyed for him.”

Rolling Thunder

There is a lot of joy in Oklahoma City and Belgium these days.

The Thunder, the defending NBA champion, became only the fifth team in NBA history to get at least 20 wins in its first 21 games when it beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-115 on Sunday.

Mitchell, who sat out nearly all of Friday’s game against Seattle after suffering a knee contusion, got 11 of his 17 points and two of his five assists in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s victory.

The former Gaucho point guard went into the weekend averaging 15.9 points on 46.4% shooting, 3.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

“He’s been huge in some really big games against really good teams,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s no surprise he’s showed up in those moments because of how he approaches the game and how he works.”

As a sophomore, Mitchell led UCSB to the 2023 NCAA tournament while winning Big West Conference Player of the Year honors.

He averaged 20 points and 4.0 assists as a junior the following year before entering the NBA draft.

Ajay Mitchell, left, during his 2023 basketball season at UCSB with former Gaucho coach Jerry Pimm, center, and Brian Shaw. Shaw, now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers, was the star point guard of Pimm’s 1988 NCAA tournament team. Credit: UCSB Athletics photo

But his emergence this season has caught most of the NBA by surprise.

The New York Knicks took him in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft with the 38th pick and then immediately traded him to Oklahoma City.

Mitchell seemed destined for a season of development in the NBA’s G League when the Thunder signed him to a two-way contract.

But OKC’s brass knew what it had by the time last year’s training camp ended. He spent the entire season in the NBA.

“He was playing rotation minutes in the first game of the season last year for what was a very deep team,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault said.

He was impressed with how intently Mitchell studied the game. The former Gaucho was a sponge during the team’s workouts.

“When you’ve got to guard those guys and they score on you in a certain way, you’re like, ‘Dang, OK, like I’ve got to figure out how to do that when I’m on offense,’” Mitchell said. “Every single day, just watching what Shai does, what JDub (Jalen Williams) does … They’re really great players.

“Everyone plays defense on our team, so for me one of the first things I learned was the way to play is you’ve got to play defense. It helps me every single day.

“I’m grateful to have that type of team that I can learn from everyone.”

Huggable Player

His Thunder teammates were quickly endeared by his workmanlike, even-keel and uniquely humble demeanor.

Mitchell, in turn, felt truly welcomed by them. He was touched by Gilgeous-Alexander’s hug in Indianapolis.

“It was cool to have that moment with him,” he said. “Just seeing the trust that he put into myself, in me going out there and being able to make plays with him on the court, too, was just pretty fun.”

Thunder officials embraced him fully midway through last season despite a toe injury that kept him sidelined for three months.

The team applied some soothing salve by upgrading his two-way deal to a regular NBA contract.

A stronger Ajay Mitchell has become especially effective this season in his drives to the basket for Oklahoma City Thunder. Credit: Oklahoma City Thunder photo

Mitchell got only spot minutes when he returned just in time for the playoffs.

The Thunder, however, made its intentions for him clear by signing him to a new, three-year deal worth $8.7 million after the season ended.

League insiders were describing that contract as a bargain for the club after Mitchell was named to the NBA Pro Summer League’s Second Team while averaging 20 points in the Las Vegas event.

“Anybody being around a playoff run like that and getting some minutes, spot minutes at times, is good for them,” Daigneault said. “Then he was able to take that wisdom into his summer.

“He got his body really, really strong, he got his game tighter and better, and he came out firing this year.”

Mitchell’s father, former Norfolk State star Barry Mitchell, had won MVP honors in both the World Basketball League and the Continental Basketball Association — the G League’s predecessor — before establishing himself overseas as a long-time star in Belgium.

But he never made it to the NBA.

“It just wasn’t in the cards for me,” the elder Mitchell said. “To see him go through this process and accomplish his dream, it’s almost as though I’ve done it.

“I’m really happy for him — really proud of him — and I think he’s going to do good things.”

Taking a Jump

His son averaged 6.5 points per game last year for the Thunder.

His 38.3% shooting from three-point distance ranked fifth among NBA rookies who’d played a minimum of 30 games. His defensive rating of 100.0 rated No. 1.

But his second year has been a true revelation of his abilities as a playmaker, scorer and lock-down defender.

“The more tools you have, the better off you are,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He has so many tools, it doesn’t really matter what you do out there.

“He’s just showing the world that game by game.”

NBA Advanced Stats reveal that he’s held the ball approximately 30% of the time on offense this season as one of the Thunder’s main playmakers.

Mitchell’s average of 12.1 drives per game is second on the team to Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the NBA in the category.

“He’s really comfortable, that’s the big thing,” Thunder guard Luguentz Dort said. “Every time he has the ball, you always expect him to make a big play.”

Mitchell seized the opportunity for major playing time when several OKC players, including Williams, an All-NBA forward, started the season on the injury list.

He’s now appearing on everybody’s list for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award. Oddsmakers rank him and Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. as the top two candidates.

BetMGM is now also now giving odds on Mitchell winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. He currently ranks 13th.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst even took a Michael Jordanesque leap during his recent Hoop Collective Podcast by floating Mitchell as a dark-horse candidate to succeed Gilgeous-Alexander as the NBA’s MVP.

But the former Gaucho was taught by Mom, Dad and Grandma to never get sidetracked by such talk.

“I try not to really focus on the outside noise,” Mitchell said. “It’s more, ‘What can I do to become a better player?’ And that’s within the team.

“That’s really what I’m focused on.

“It’s obviously great to have those type of compliments. I’ve just got to stay focused and keep working on getting better.”

The closeness of his OKC family has made a big difference, he said, as it did while he was at UCSB.

Members of the Oklahoma City Thunder confront players from the Portland Trailblazers after former UCSB star Ajay Mitchell (25) was yanked to the floor while attempting a layup during a game last week. Credit: Nate Billings photo

“I think it really helped just the way it was in Santa Barbara,” Mitchell said. “We had like six incoming freshmen when I got in, so it was really easy to get adjusted.

“And the guys that were already there just brought us in, so it was really smooth.

“Off the court was pretty easy. It’s a great school, so I was really happy.”

His Thunder teammates weren’t happy last week. They scuffled with Portland’s Rayan Rupert after he grabbed Mitchell’s jersey and yanked him to the floor after he’d gone airborne for a layup.

Rupert was charged with a flagrant foul, but OKC’s Isaiah Hartenstein also drew a technical foul for his vehement defense of his teammate.

Mitchell took it all in stride, as always, with nary a discouraging word.

“Just move on,” he said. “Get ready for the free throws.

“Teammates have my back, which I always love.”

Just like it always was with Grandma.