After selecting Chris Cenac Jr. in the first round of the NBA draft, the Boston Celtics selected St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell in the second round. Unlike Cenac, Mitchell is an older prospect (22) and played all four years in college. Mitchell is an impressive athlete who boasts strong defensive and finishing skills.
Fans should be intrigued by the second-rounder due to his obvious athletic traits, but he does have a big weakness. If he can't improve it, carving out an NBA career will be more challenging for Mitchell.
Dillon Mitchell needs to become a better shooter
As athletic as Mitchell is, he does have a major weakness in his shooting ability. Last season, he shot 15 threes and only made one (6.7%). His best season from three was his junior season with the Cincinnati Bearcats, when he shot just 29.4% from three (10-34).
Not only is Mitchell not a threat from outside, but his free-throw shooting leaves a lot to be desired, being a career 48.8% free-throw shooter. It was in his sophomore season that he shot the best from the line, only converting on 59.8% of them.
For Mitchell to hang around the NBA, he'll need to work to become a better shooter. Starting with his struggles at the free-throw line, we've seen throughout NBA history teams intentionally fouling bad free-throw shooters to purposely send them to the line (Boston itself has done this, especially to New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson). Being a bad free-throw shooter in the modern NBA is a poor recipe for success.
Mitchell becoming a better threat from three doesn't need to be as big a jump, but he needs to become serviceable and someone opposing teams respect from outside. Given he's only 6'8, it's tougher for him to get away with not being a floor-spacer than if he had the size of a center.
Dillon Mitchell can improve his shot in Boston
Historically, someone with as bad a free-throw shooter as Mitchell is less likely to become a shooting threat. A positive for him, however, is that Boston has done well with developing a player's shooting ability, especially with players similar to him. The clearest example of this has been with Jordan Walsh. Similar to Walsh, should Mitchell improve his shooting, he could become a solid role player for Boston in the future.
Since he was picked in the second round, Mitchell is eligible to sign a two-way deal with Boston, and I'd expect that to be the most likely scenario, especially with Boston's track record of doing this. Celtics fans shouldn't expect to see Mitchell play many games in Boston next season, and that's fine. Sending him to play in Maine is the correct move to allow him to play and fix his shooting.
Luckily for Celtics fans, it would be that long til Mitchell suits up for the Celtics, as he'll be a member of the Celtics summer league team. The NBA Las Vegas Summer League kicks off on July 9th and runs until July 19th.
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