SALT LAKE CITY — At 10-8, including a recent win at Vivint Arena, the Sacramento Kings are a surprisingly hot team. At the head of the charge is point guard De’Aaron Fox, someone Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has known since high school.
While both Mitchell and Fox are guards and share the same height, their games couldn’t be more different. Their build is entirely different, given Mitchell’s muscular frame and Fox’s slim body but elusive speed. Mitchell is the better scorer, but Fox is the more natural distributor.
Mitchell was a year older than Fox in school, but the two crossed paths early in their basketball careers with the high school circuit to build a bond. In fact, when Fox was looking at colleges, Louisville with Mitchell was in his top-five before he ultimately chose to attend Kentucky.
In that year at Kentucky, Fox, playing for the No. 6 Wildcats, and Mitchell, playing for the No. 10 Cardinals, squared off in the “Battle of the Bluegrass”. The Cardinals outlasted the Wildcats 73-70 in a close game that wasn’t over until Malik Monk, now with the Charlotte Hornets, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Kentucky. Fox led his team in scoring, 21 points, while Mitchell had 13 points and four rebounds.
It set the stage for a few months later when their paths continued to cross leading up to the 2017 draft. They attended combines, media sessions, and even workouts together while being projected as lottery picks. Interestingly enough, Sacramento had an interest in both guards.
On the Kings Insider Podcast, host James Ham and guest Sam Vecenie revealed that the Kings really liked Mitchell and could have taken him with their 10th pick if they hadn't selected Fox with the No. 5 selection. They didn’t want to use both picks on a guard and traded the No. 10 pick for two selections later in the draft. Lucky for Jazz fans, the Kings, and then more, passed on Mitchell to set him up for a special season close to the Wasatch Mountains.
As Mitchell’s stardom ascended into the postseason, Fox went onto The Uninterrupted to discuss his rookie of the year pick. The conversation turned to Mitchell and Fox was asked if he saw the Spida sensation coming. Fox replied, “No. I’ve known Donovan since high school,” and, while laughing, added, “he was never that good.”
Later, on The Jump, Fox picked his rookie of the year: Mitchell.
“If I had to pick,” he said, “I would have to say Donovan. He averaged 20-plus and puts the ball in the basket. That team looks at Donovan to give them a spark. They look at Donovan, at 21 years old.”
Last year, Fox averaged about 12 points and four assists a ballgame, and those numbers have jumped to 18 and eight in his sophomore year. Specifically, his shot improved, going from 30 percent from deep to nearly 40 percent. As a result, the team’s offense has blossomed as well. The Kings were minus-10.4 points per 100 possessions last year with Fox running the show and on the court. This year? The Kings are +16.6 net points per 100 possessions.
Last Wednesday Fox and Sacramento came into Salt Lake and took home a 119-110 victory. Fox was instrumental, notching 17 points, 13 assists, and a team best +12.
“The game has slowed down for him," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said. “He’s making enough shots to make people play him, but we are still able to get up and down, and he’s able to keep his momentum going north and south.”
Said Mitchell after the game: “This the De’Aaron I knew.”
“Last year he was trying to figure everything out. This is the confident [guy], the one that can shoot, the one who can score and get others involved. That’s him.”
With the two squaring off for the third time this season on Sunday, both are now sophomores in the NBA with a year of offense, sets, defense, adjustments, and hits, scrapes, and bruises all under their belt. Both are continuing to evolve into NBA players while developing with the game and the extended focus placed on both shoulders. With Mitchell having already achieved quality NBA player status, it’s been Fox this season to take the leap.
Because of this, Mitchell said last Wednesday, “I’m proud of his work ethic. The sky’s the limit for him if continues to work hard. He had a great summer, clearly.”
“Man, he’s tough. He’s a blur. He can continue this all year and I think he will.”
The Jazz take on the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m.