NBA: In-Depth Cases For the Top 3 Candidates

#1 Donovan Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the game already

One of the best things about Mitchell's game is the fact that defenses are already finding it pretty hard to clamp down on him. Combining a fluid shooting stroke with a couple of nice ballhandling moves, Mitchell is a threat to outrun most defenders into the paint if they aren't careful with their foot movement.

What's more, Mitchell is also a threat from downtown, as well as mid-range. Albeit not as fluid and smooth as Tatum, he can nevertheless pretty much create his own shot from most spots on the floor.

The closest NBA comparison for Mitchell's combination of speed and shooting ability is Damian Lillard, although the Spider still has a ways to go before he can be as much of an isolation threat as Lillard is on a nightly basis.

All said and done, Mitchell is the leading per-game scorer among all rookies by the fairly wide margin of 4.3 points over his next best competitor - the Los Angeles Lakers' Kyle Kuzma. In fact, he's so good that he's ranked 21st league-wide in points per game, which basically means that he's capable of being a franchise player by next year (assuming he improves his game in the offseason).