SALT LAKE CITY — When Jazz players spoke to reporters on Monday, they did so in pairs. Mike Conley and Joe Ingles were up first. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert followed. But Mitchell arrived early, and he decided to ask his teammates a question.
“This question is for both of you,” he said, feigning his best meek reporter voice. “In basketball, they have duos. Shooting duos, like the splash brothers. Mike, I’ll ask you first. What do you call Bojan (Bogdanovic) and Joe (Ingles)?”
Ingles sighed, to laughs from the audience.
“The Bo-Joe Show?” Conley replied, to more laughs.
“Joe,” Mitchell continued, “I need one from you too.”
Ingles seconded Conley’s choice, thanked Mitchell for his question and ceded the dais, as did Conley. Mitchell returned his microphone and stepped up with confidence. Throughout his roughly 12 minutes on the stage, he stayed lighthearted, joking with Gobert about Team USA’s loss to France in this summer’s FIBA Basketball World Cup. But when he needed to get serious — to talk about what one reporter in attendance called the most highly anticipated Jazz season this century — Mitchell made two things obvious: He’s aware of the hype surrounding this team; and after a summer of growth uninterrupted by injury, he’s ready to deliver.
Mitchell conceded that in “today’s world,” with how much people use their phones, it’s impossible to avoid expectations. It was a rare admission from a professional athlete — a group whose common refrain for such questions is some variation of “tuning out the noise.” Mitchell refused to follow that cliche.
He also acknowledged teams in the Western Conference have made moves and gotten better. So, too, have the Jazz. With the additions of Conley, Bogdanovic, Jeff Green and others, Mitchell called the preseason a chance to “start over.” It was actually less of a chance, and more of mandate.
“We have to start from scratch,” he said. “We have a platform. We have a base. But we have to build from that. And I think that’s where my head is at.”
Mitchell also said it’s important not to get too far ahead of things. Although he’s aware of expectations, that doesn’t mean he’s looking toward the playoffs or Utah’s standing in the West before suiting up for the season’s first practice.
“I think that’s kinda setting yourself up for failure,” he said. “The biggest thing is just continuing, starting with tomorrow.”
He’ll have plenty of new weapons to work with, starting with Conley. The backcourt pairing was one of the most heavily discussed topics Monday, starting with coach Quin Snyder. He believes Conley — who he called an elite point guard — will elevate Mitchell.
“In Donovan’s case,” he said, “you have a guy in Mike who’s unselfish, but also a guy who can play without the ball.”
Conley seemed equally enthusiastic about playing with Mitchell, who he called “one of the more talented guys” he’s played with.
“He’s a guy who can make plays for a lot of people and take over games. For me to be able to just be in a corner and watch it happen should be fun,” he added. “It should be a fun ride for everybody.”
When asked what he’s already learned from Conley, Mitchell pointed to two areas. First, leadership skills. Mitchell is not an unskilled leader to begin with. This was evident in his time with Team USA this summer, if not his first two seasons with the Jazz, too. Adding Conley, with his 12 years of NBA experience, can only help accelerate Mitchell’s capacity to lead.
The other area was vision. Conley, Mitchell said, can slow down the game and find players open all over the floor.
“Mike has shown in his career that he can do both,” Mitchell said. “He can hit guys in the corner and the wing, and guys going to the basket.”
Mitchell was also asked about international play, specifically the USA-France game, which he addressed with a pronounced sigh. Gobert said he grew up dreaming of beating the U.S. in an international competition; he finished by noting he’s hopeful it’ll happen again.
“Nah,” Mitchell said, shaking his head, trying once more to keep things fun. But he also acknowledged that international play, despite failing to lead his team to victory, improved his defense. Team USA coach Gregg Popovich, he said, helped him stop playing over-aggressively. In college, he always went for the steal — a habit that proved hard to break. Now, with his newly refined approach, he said he’s prepared to guard every opponent’s best perimeter player.
He’s also excited to enter the season healthy and rust-free, after sitting out most of his previous offseason with a foot injury. This year, he said, he’ll be ready on day one.
Mitchell concluded his time at the mic by commending Jazz executives for the moves made this offseason. He followed that, humor free, by implying Utah has the pieces to live up to expectations — however lofty, however difficult. The key now is to deliver — a task that’s easier said on the first day of the preseason than done.
“It’s really on us at this point,” he said. “I think we’re ready for that challenge.”