One Toronto Raptors player likely isn’t feeling all that bad that the franchise decided to move on from him earlier this season.
Guard Davion Mitchell was moved on trade deadline day to the Miami Heat in exchange for PJ Tucker, a second-round pick, and cash.
The 26-year-old Georgia native, who was in his first year with Toronto after starting the first three years of his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, was traded for the second time in his professional life less than eight months after his first transaction.
The move of Mitchell wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it has seemingly paid off in dividends for the Heat, who hold his rights moving forward as a restricted free agent in the final year of his rookie contract.
Mitchell was seventh in Toronto’s rotation, playing 24.5 minutes a night while coming off the bench in 22 of his 44 games with the Raptors this season.
In Miami, he’s put up 32.4 minutes a night, starting all 10 games he’s been healthy for, while upping his season averages of 10 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.9 rebounds, in contrast to 6.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 1.9 rebounds with Toronto.
From an advanced stats perspective, he’s already picked up 0.7 win shares in his 10 games in Miami, more than his 0.5 win shares across 44 games in Toronto. His win shares/48 minutes of .104 in Miami is also the highest mark of his career, compared to a previous .059 last season in Sacramento or .023 this year in Toronto.
One stat perhaps best exemplifies the difference in his scoring totals, however: he shot 35.9 percent from three-point range while in Toronto, and he’s shooting 48.5 from behind the arc in his brief time in Miami. It might just be a brief hot streak on his new team, but he’s clearly found his groove right from the get-go after the move to Florida.
Though Mitchell himself has upped his production, the team itself hasn’t been so lucky: they’ve gone just 3-7 with him in the lineup so far.
With the Heat five games back of the Detroit Pistons for the final guaranteed playoff spot, it seems more likely that they’ll end up in the play-in round. But given that the price wasn’t all that high for a member of their starting group, Miami probably isn’t regretting the move for a starting guard either, as they make a push for their sixth straight trip to the postseason.