The Oklahoma City Thunder still has a chance to play for a championship this season.
Not the NBA Finals, it’s already won that. The NBA Cup resides in Milwaukee despite OKC’s best efforts. But now, with the NBA Summer League Tournament still within reach after a 92-75 win over the Orlando Magic, the Thunder can still add another thing to the trophy case, albeit a small one.
With Ajay Mitchell starring, the Thunder outpaced the Magic’s summer league squad, which was missing Tristan da Silva, Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, the three players on the roster who have a chance of making an NBA impact next season.
OKC, on the other hand, got a boost, getting back two-way player Branden Carlson for the first time this summer.
In his minutes last season, Carlson impressed. In seven minutes per game, Carlson scored 3.8 points and had 0.7 blocks, along with showing upside from 3-point range, shooting 33.3% from deep at 7-foot.
Carlson picked up where he left off, scoring 23 points in 19 minutes. Heading into his second season out of Utah, Carlson continues to show promise as a rim protector. His minutes during the regular season were too few to make any real conclusions, but he did average four blocks per 100 possessions.
It’s unlikely that Carlson actually would’ve turned into the best rim protector in the NBA had he played more minutes, but it is another skill he has in his bag. Against Orlando, he rejected two shots, one of which received a loud ovation from the Las Vegas crowd.
Carlson played well in his return, but the story was Ajay Mitchell.
For most of summer league, Mitchell has looked a level above the competition, as many do when they play in the summer in between their first and second seasons.
After missing much of last season with a Grade 3 Turf Toe injury, Mitchell got some playing time in the playoffs, most notably in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but fans hadn’t really been able to track his progress since the injury.
Those who were interested received a resounding answer on Tuesday evening.
Mitchell scored 27 points, had seven rebounds and four assists, along with a chase-down block.
As he has all summer, he displayed all the skills needed to become an effective bench guard, something that, despite winning the title, OKC was missing last season.
When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were on the bench, OKC’s lineups had no one to lead the charge. Mitchell did it in spurts to start the season, but it was clear he needed more development to become an effective player in higher minutes.
The things that Mitchell put on display were the same ones that OKC fans see often.
He got to the rim at will, drew fouls in the midrange and finished around the rim with a level of prowess that few expected from the No. 38 pick when he got drafted last year.
Now, he appears to be Sam Presti’s latest gem.
It’s easy to put too much stock into what happens during summer league, and by no means is Mitchell going to be an offensive force at the NBA level. But, he did put enough on tape to suggest that he can be a lead guard off the bench when OKC’s stars need a breather.
