LAS VEGAS—The immediate word from coaches who worked closely with Davion Mitchell in Sacramento painted a picture would have loved. “Nobody works out more than Davion,” read one note . “He is always in the gym .
.. great defence on the ball.
” Speaking with the 25-year-old here this week, when he took part in workouts around Toronto’s Summer League entry that begins games Saturday, it’s obvious Mitchell takes great pride in those attributes. “I think that you’ve definitely got to have IQ, but a lot of it is gifted abilities,” he said. “I think I have really fast feet.
I can stop on a dime better than, I think, anybody in the world. I have really good recovery speed. “So, a lot of it is God gifted, but also you just have to have effort.
You’ve got to play extremely hard and want to do it.” That kind of talent, and desire, should make Mitchell a key part of the Raptors defence this coming season. Toronto identified a top young backup point guard behind as an off-season priority and got Mitchell in a package from Sacramento for Jalen McDaniels.
Toronto’s point-of-attack defence was lacking last season. The six-foot-two guard is hopefully the antidote. “I think for me over my career playing basketball, every team that I’ve been on, the guy that’s on the ball brings that energy,” Mitchell said.
“I think that me putting pressure on the ball up top, a lot of people are going to want to play just as hard. No one wants to stand out by not playing .