I’m sorry guys, but this isn’t close. I’d easily take Donovan Mitchell over Jaylen. You can’t simply look at numbers when comparing/evaluating players. It’s the intangibles that take players to the next level. I’d favor Mitchell over Brown in the following:
• Basketball IQ
• Basketball instincts
• Playmaking/creating offense
• Making players around you better
If you switched the two players, Utah would be better. Mitchell is surrounded by quality role players who make good decisions and can really shoot. That makes a player look like they are smarter players. Jaylen would thrive with those types of teammates too.
Mitchell is impressive, but Jaylen is a considerably bigger guy and a much better and more versatile defender.
I am not sold on this.
I would say they are on a similar level talent wise but possess a different set of skills. Mitchell's skills are more conducive to winning when he is a #1 offensive option role while Jaylen's are more conducive to winning when he is a #2 guy. So it depends more on your roster construction than a straight comparison of who is better.
Donovan Mitchell can add more to a team as a #1 because of his superior ball-handling which leads to superior self-generated shot attempts & improved offensive opportunities for his teammates from his playmaking out of these ball-handling sequences.
Jaylen is superior at being effective with less touches & less time dribbling the ball. So he is better playing on a team with multiple offensive options because he can share the pie better.
Donovan Mitchell can share by being the man. By being the creator that everything revolves around.
Jaylen Brown shares by NOT being the man. By playing more off the ball and being an assassin when he gets the ball. By allowing more talented teammates room to express themselves in a way that Donovan Mitchell does NOT.
But Donovan Mitchell allows less talented teammates more room to express themselves (spot up shooters & rim rollers) by being the man. By taking on that extra offensive responsibility, reducing the offensive burden on less gifted teammates and creating easier opportunities for them via his ball-handling, shot creation and playmaking.
So to me this is more a question of roster composition than a straight which player is better. It is more complicated than that. In some situations, Donovan Mitchell is better. In other situations, Jaylen Brown is the better player.
But how many teams can actually win with Mitchell as their #1 offensive player? Players of this calibre are usually the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th best players on championship level teams, so it's generally preferable for a player on this level to possess skills that scale well next to better and better teammates instead of having a skillset that demands a team to build around him. And going by that logic, I would say that Jaylen Brown is the better basketball player overall.
I am not sure better or worse are the correct descriptions here. One player is better in certain situations, the other player is better in different situations.
I'd rather leave it there rather than trying to force one player over the other. I do have a preference and I agree in more situations it is Jaylen over Mitchell. However, it is not always about most situations. It is about your team's specific situation. And in some of those situations, Mitchell is the better player. While in some other different situations, Jaylen is the better player.
So it less about who vs who than it is about situation vs situation. Match the situation to the player = get the best results. Put the perceived best player in the wrong situation = get worse results despite having the perceived better individual player.
So yes, I see what you are saying and I agree with almost all of it in terms of scaling and value. However, I am not sure scaling is always the best measurement.
Here, I find more value in understanding chemistry and team construction by looking at skill-sets relative to a specific situation(s) rather than looking at scaling which is ... trying to find a singular way of looking for an end result across
all situations rather than
specific situations.
It doesn't matter to a team if the individual player is better in 75% of situations vs 25% of situations if your team is in that 25%. You want and need the player who gives you the best chance of winning and that is the guy in the 25% situation. He is the better player for you.
In this comparison, Mitchell is better on some teams. Jaylen Brown is better on other teams. Identifying those teams and correctly matching the player to those individual situation is the goal in order to win a Championship.
Scaling matters more if starting from scratch or early stage team building and which player offers you more flexibility in terms of further team building in order to win the Championship.
Which brings me back to the beginning, I don't think it is as simple as one versus the other. The answer is different for different situations. Which tells me they are on a similar tier (albeit for different reasons) talent wise.