Re-signing Davion Mitchell figures to be an offseason priority for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The 26-year-old guard, who was acquired from the Raptors as part of the Jimmy Butler trade, has become a valuable component of Miami’s defense during his two months with the team.
“I’ve shown it this whole year,” he said. “With Toronto I was able to showcase some of the things I can do. I think that’s the reason why Miami traded for me. They can see what I can do. They can see what I do for this culture and I fit right in.”
The Heat can make Mitchell a restricted free agent — giving them the option to match any offer he receives — by tendering an $8.7MM qualifying offer. A former NBA executive told Winderman that Mitchell’s next contract is likely to start in that range, projecting something in the neighborhood of $30MM over three years. Mitchell recently increased the value of his QO, meeting starter criteria by topping 2,000 minutes for the season.
Mitchell was expected to be part of the future in Sacramento when he was selected with the ninth pick in the 2021 draft, but he fell out of the Kings’ rotation after a promising rookie year. After being traded twice over the past 10 months, Mitchell hopes he’s found a more stable situation with the Heat.
“To play basketball in Miami, it’s a blessing,” he said. “I love being here. It’s a spot I come to during the summer, so I’m familiar with it and I got a lot of people out here that I know.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- Miami is trying to make history by becoming the first 10th seed ever to advance through the play-in tournament and earn a playoff spot, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The Heat are brimming with confidence after Wednesday’s convincing win at Chicago, and they’re ready to take the same approach to tonight’s game against the Hawks. “We locked in defensively,” Andrew Wiggins said. “This has to carry over to Atlanta. We got one more game to do the same thing. Lock in defensively and the offense will follow.”
- Coach Erik Spoelstra expects Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson to be in uniform tonight, Chiang tweets. Jovic, who hasn’t played since February 23 due to a broken right hand, isn’t likely to see any action, although Spoelstra joked that he might be used as an inbounder. Larsson, who sprained his ankle last week, hasn’t appeared in a game since April 7.
- Kevin Love is away from the team again due to personal reasons, Chiang adds (Twitter link). Love has only played 23 times this season and hasn’t gotten into a game since logging six minutes on March 21.