The Boston Celtics have to make a Dillon Mitchell decision. Now he has a decision to make himself: should he stay with the Celtics or go back to college?
Such a statement would be unthinkable in the basketball landscape of the last 20 years. When a player leaves college to enter the NBA Draft, they are done playing college basketball. Larry Bird being drafted and then going back to Indiana State is a long ways in the rearview mirror.
Objects in mirrors are closer than they appear, however, and suddenly a new day is dawning. First it was international players who never made it to the NBA, neglecting their drafted status to join college basketball. Then players who went undrafted tried to pivot back to a bigger payday in college. This year, the LA Clippers drafted an international player who said "thanks, no thanks" and headed to Auburn.
The Celtics were not planning to deal with any of that chaos, however. They used the 40th pick on St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell, who graduated from high school in 2022 and played four full years of college basketball. He used up his eligibility and entered the NBA Draft.
Suddenly, however, everything is changing. And Mitchell might be heading back to college basketball after all.
Dillon Mitchell is suddenly eligible
The NCAA passed a new rule that gives every student-athlete five years to compete following their graduation from high school. The rule is meant to limit players coming out of the woodwork who are 25 or 26, or appealing to play a sixth or seventh season because of injuries or extenuating circumstances. Five years, no exceptions.
The flip side of that rule, however, is that players who played the traditional four years now get an extra season. The players currently in college basketball can play for up to five full years now without needing a redshirt year or a global pandemic to gain that fifth season.
The rule went into effect on August 1st, and initially it excluded the recently graduated class of 2022, of which Mitchell was a part. Some players challenged that exclusion, and a Colorado judge named Charlotte Sweeney granted a preliminary injunction to allow all such players to return to college for their 5th season.
That includes Mitchell. The 6'8" forward was not yet signed to a contract, perhaps in part because the Celtics were offering a two-way spot and Mitchell wanted the 15th roster spot. The rookie's leverage in the situation was quite small, at least until Friday.
What will Mitchell and the Celtics decide?
Now, if Mitchell is not pleased with the contract or situation in Boston, he can go back to school. Whether that is St. John's welcoming him back or another team giving him an NIL payday to play for them, he has options.
What do the Celtics want from the situation? They will retain Mitchell's rights if he returns to school, so it would function as something of a "draft-and-stash" if he returns to college, just as international players have been "stashed" for years.
Could Boston try to get Mitchell to choose a school in the Northeast so they can keep close tabs on him? Is there a college coach running a similar system to Joe Mazzulla they can direct him toward? Can Mitchell get paid, not hit the Celtics' books, develop for another year and then join the team?
There are strong benefits to having Mitchell in their own system, but they cannot offer him the kind of money he could make in college. And leaving that roster spot open gives them options to add a veteran player, and delays the clock on Mitchell's next contract.
The Celtics and Mitchell now have options. Sorting through them to predict what both sides will decide is a difficult proposition. As of Friday, however, the world has opened up for Dillon Mitchell.
And his Celtics debut may have been postponed.
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