Donovan Mitchell says he almost skipped the NBA Draft to return to Louisville

The early Rookie of The Year favorite says he strongly considered returning to Louisville

Donovan Mitchell is an early Rookie of The Year favorite based on how well he's been playing this season. He's already blossomed into one of the Jazz's's go-to scorers amidst all of their injuries. He's shown great ability away from the ball, and when he gets the ball in his hands, he knows exactly what to do with it. 

What's crazy is this all could have been delayed or never even happened. In a feature for Bleacher Report, Mitchell spoke about how he almost stayed at Louisville. The decision to enter the NBA Draft did not come easily to him.

"Seven months later, the conversation seems absurd. But Mitchell almost missed out on being selected 13th in the NBA draft. The Utah Jazz almost missed out on his 17.7 points and 3.4 assists per game. And the NBA almost missed out on a consensus top-three candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Mitchell never doubted that this moment would come in his basketball career, but he was the last person to believe this would be his year."

Mitchell's self-doubt may sound insane now, but he mentions in the feature how he has a tendency to freak himself out. Maybe that's why he needed an all-time great like Chris Paul to finally give him the confirmation he needed to turn pro.

"After a week, Mitchell admitted to himself that he'd prefer to go pro, but he still needed proof he could do it. During the second week, Paul George, Chris Paul and Julius Randle dropped in to run scrimmages with them. Like many players, Mitchell is more likely to remember his misses than his makes, but he felt like he hardly missed a shot against NBA stars. Paul pulled Mitchell aside at the end of the day and told him it was time to go pro.

'Sometimes you can just see it in a person," Paul says. "You can see how much he loves the game. He's going to be good for a long time.'"

It's not uncommon to see players stay in school for an extra year as opposed to entering the NBA. It's their own personal decision and one that isn't easy to make. Marcus Smart, for example, decided to stay in school instead of entering the draft when he was considered a surefire lottery pick. However, considering how important he is in Boston's system right now, he's probably happy with the decision he made.

Considering how well Mitchell's game has translated in the NBA early on in his career, and where he seems to be heading with Utah, he's probably pretty happy with his decision as well. It just took a little push to help him realize that the time to prove he could this was now rather than later.