The Downbeat: All Aboard the Donovan Mitchell Hype Train

The Donovan Mitchell hype train is swiftly gaining steam. Get a seat while you still can.

After tearing it up in the summer league and gracing the twitter timeline with his offseason pickup ball moves, Donovan Mitchell finally made some noise against an NBA opponent.

In the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Lakers, Mitchell dropped 26 points off the bench, as well as adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The rookie had several highlight-material plays, including a dagger three-pointer to seal the game with less than a minute remaining.

With the ESPN (preseason) spotlight beaming Tuesday night, Mitchell gained some national attendees on his hype train.

Some may say he is getting too much hype. But he is also a rookie for the Utah Jazz, so just embrace the attention and let’s enjoy the hype while it lasts (hopefully all year).

NBA.com’s John Schuhmann analyzed the Utah Jazz’s transition scoring offense, which scored the most points per possession last season.

But only nine percent of Utah's possessions, the second lowest rate in the league, were in transition.

The Jazz ran well, but didn't run often, playing a slow and deliberate style that allowed opposing defenses to get set. In each of Quin Snyder's three seasons as coach, Utah has ranked last in pace and either first or second in passes per possession.

It’s no secret that the Jazz play at a slow pace compared to the rest of the teams in the league, but Schuhmann makes the argument the Jazz could be more effective if they utilize their pace in transition.

With how slow they play, the Jazz haven't taken advantage of how good their defense has been. They've been a better-than-average defensive team in each of Snyder's three seasons, ranking third (their highest rank in 28 years) last season. The Jazz didn't force a lot of turnovers (they ranked 29th in steals per game), but more stops should still generate more transition opportunities.

The Jazz have one of the most internationally diverse rosters in the NBA, which seems pretty cool on paper. However, there are some negative effects of such diversification, i.e. players not being able to read each other’s tweets in a player’s native tongue.

Because future MVP Joe Ingles speaks English, that should probably be the default language for all tweets.

Need something to do to get you by until next Wednesday? Say no more, the Utah Jazz got it covered.

Former Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke signed with the New York Knicks Wednesday morning. Good for Trey.