Thanks to a fascinating new NCAA rule that allows players to have a fifth year of college eligibility, Dillon Mitchell has an interesting decision to make. A Colorado judge has ruled that, even though he was just drafted, he has another year of NCAA eligibility, and Mitchell can go back and play one more year of college basketball instead of signing with the Celtics, who selected him with the 40th overall pick in June.
When Boston drafted Mitchell, they were likely hoping to sign him to a two-way deal and have him spend most of his rookie year in Maine, making roughly half a million dollars. But with this ruling, Mitchell can essentially become a college free agent and make a good deal more than that.
Perhaps he wants to leverage this situation into the Celtics giving him a standard contract, as they do have one open roster spot, but they only have $1.7 million of wiggle room under the luxury tax line, and even that would almost certainly be a pay cut for Mitchell compared to going back to college.
Celtics will retain Mitchell’s draft rights even if he goes back to school
The good news is that the Celtics will still hold Mitchell’s draft rights, so if he goes back to college, it would almost be like a draft-and-stash player. Boston would be able to sign him after next season, and we’d basically be right back in the exact situation we are now, except he wouldn’t have the leverage of another college year.
So luckily, it’s not like the Cs wasted their second-round pick. They’ll get to watch him continue his college career, knowing he’s already in their system. It’s like a prospect waiting in the wings. Maybe he improves so much that he looks like a lottery pick and the Celtics end up with a steal next year that most fans had forgotten about.
Mitchell won’t get to develop in Maine if he returns to college
The downside here for the Celtics is that if Mitchell leaves, they lose a year of development. Even in the few summer league games we saw, Mitchell looked like he had already improved his jump shot, making more threes in one game than he did in his whole senior season at St. John’s.
We’ve seen what the Celtics developmental staff has done with guys in Maine, especially wing players like Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr. Mitchell already has a great skill set, so getting a year to work with the coaching staff in Maine could give him a real chance to fix his jumper and become an NBA rotation player.
That could obviously still happen, but we may have to wait a year to see it. Whether he goes back to St. John’s or a different school, they’ll likely be able to offer the development, coaching, and training that an NBA team like the Celtics can provide. On top of that, his college team will be focused on winning a title more than developing Mitchell into a pro. He’s already a great college player, but may not be as inclined to focus on improving the areas that he’ll need to work on to make an impact at the next level.
At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world if Mitchell goes back to college, and it would be fun to watch NCAA hoops knowing that a player is already on the Celtics. Also, it’s hard to blame him for wanting to maximize his earning potential. But at the same time, it’s disappointing we won’t get to see him in the G-League and that this may well set him back a year in terms of development and NBA readiness.
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