Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell each led their teams in scoring on Christmas Day, but it was Mitchell’s Jazz that pulled out the win thanks to a supporting cast that stepped up. Prior to that game, Dan Devine of The Ringer looked at Lillard and Mitchell, two underdog players coming out of college, and ultimately went on to decide which of the two he’d rather build a team around.
First, the similarities are hard to ignore between the two on the court:
Both quickly emerged as legitimate backcourt scorers on teams built around all-star-caliber big men (Lillard with LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland, Mitchell with Rudy Gobert in Utah).