The Toronto Raptors are preparing for their first playoff series with their current core. It would be nice to have as many proven players as possible on the roster -- but unfortunately, rather than having Davion Mitchell on the team, they had to watch him explode for the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
The Raptors could have Mitchell on their roster right now. They picked him up in a salary dump, one of the more brilliant asset trades of the Masai Ujiri era, gaining Mitchell and two second-round picks to take on the contract of Sasha Vezenkov -- who promptly cleared his own money off the books by returning to Europe.
Mitchell came into the league nicknamed "Off-Night" for his defensive prowess, but his offense didn't kick in while with the Raptors. Toronto used one of those second-round picks to draft Jamal Shead, a player in a similar mold to Mitchell, and they proceeded to dump his contract for essentially nothing at the following trade deadline.
They almost certainly regret that trade now.
Davion Mitchell has blossomed in Miami
The transformation was instantaneous. Mitchell became the starter for the Miami Heat and had multiple big games down the stretch of last season. He parlayed that into a new contract with Miami at a relative bargain: two years, $24 million.
Mitchell has outplayed that deal and then some this season. On a team with Tyler Herro, Norman Powell and Mr. 83-points Bam Adebayo, he isn't asked to take on a massive scoring load. What he did was maintain his All-Defense impact while shooting 39.5 percent from deep and boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of more than 4-to-1. He was exactly what the Heat needed.
That set up Tuesday night's performance against the Charlotte Hornets in the Play-In Tournament. Mitchell went off like a nuclear bomb against the Hornets' soft backcourt, scoring a gargantuan 28 points and nailing four 3-pointers. He added six assists, four rebounds, two steals, a block and zero turnovers in a true all-around performance.
It wasn't enough for the Heat, who lost Bam Adebayo to injury on a borderline dirty play from LaMelo Ball and lost in overtime. It showed what Mitchell is capable of, however, and it probably heaped a scoop of regret onto the Raptors' heads.
The Raptors should regret trading Mitchell
The Toronto Raptors decided that it made more sense to replace Mitchell with Jamal Shead, a similar type of player who was going to be much cheaper than what it cost to retain Mitchell. That makes sense on paper.
The problem is that Shead -- who has been mostly as advertised on defense -- has been one of the league's worst offensive players. He shot 36.7 percent from the field and only 32.1 percent from deep, he cannot finish at the rim if anyone is nearby, and he has a much higher turnover rate than Mitchell. And for all of his identity as a hustle player, he doesn't get his hands on many rebounds, either.
Mitchell is a better defender than Shead and a significantly better offensive player. Shead is cheaper, yes, but it's not like Mitchell is making $30 million a year -- he's not Jakob Poeltl. If they had held onto Off-Night, they would have a backup point guard who could play as many minutes as they needed and make a real two-way impact.
Going to war against the Cleveland Cavaliers and their All-Star guards, that would have been a really nice thing to have. Instead, they'll have to play Shead and hope he doesn't absolutely kill them on offense. And Mitchell will prepare for another season with the team that believed in him.
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