LOS ANGELES — Everybody knows the Oklahoma City Thunder’s depth is the envy of the NBA and the backbone of their aspirations for a second straight league championship.
The next impressive player to rise from the Thunder’s bottomless depth and onto the national stage is Ajay Mitchell, who has seized the spotlight while replacing injured teammate Jalen Williams during the playoffs this spring.
After delivering career playoff highs of 24 points and 10 assists with no turnovers Saturday night in Western Conference No. 1 seed Oklahoma City’s 131-108 victory over the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, building a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series in the second round, the 23-year-old Belgian guard is the latest cog in general manager Sam Presti’s formidable machine to prove he’s ready to contribute to the aspiring dynasty.
Perhaps only his teammates aren’t surprised.
“Yeah, he’s a gamer,” reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Works super hard. He’s never shaken by the moment. It might be a shock to the world, but it’s no shock to us. We knew who Ajay Mitchell was the day he stepped foot in our building, and he’s just showing it to the world.”
The Thunder have yet to lose in this postseason, sweeping the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round and taking firm control against the Lakers with Game 4 set for Monday night in Los Angeles.
That’s largely thanks to Mitchell, who swiftly stepped up to shoulder an increased offensive load five games ago after Williams’ hamstring injury. Mitchell has also stepped up to make up for the Lakers’ strong defensive effort against Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been limited and erratic by his formidable standard.
“I know what I can do, and when I go out there, I just want to compete and help this team win and play freely,” Mitchell said. “Every time I step on the court, I want to be a winning player and help my team. That’s really what’s been on my mind every time I play.”
Mitchell did that impressively in the second half of Game 3, with 18 points and seven assists after intermission while largely taking charge of the game at the start of both quarters. He led the Thunder’s 21-6 run out of halftime on the way to a third straight blowout.
Mitchell has averaged 20.7 points per game against the Lakers while hitting 53.3% of his shots and committing only three total turnovers. He has 20 assists while also playing strong defense.
After Williams went down in Game 2 of the first round against Phoenix, Mitchell moved into the starting lineup for the next game but shot just 5-for-20. His teammates remained solidly behind him, though, and Mitchell has been outstanding ever since.
“He’s just finding his footing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s his first run in the playoffs, and it’s obviously a different ballgame. He’s just getting more and more comfortable as the game goes on, as the series goes on. … I was never worried that he wasn’t going to figure it out, and he’s shown that.”
After growing up in Europe, Mitchell spent three collegiate seasons about an hour away from downtown Los Angeles at UC Santa Barbara, and he was a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft.
Mitchell played as a rookie last season, albeit sparingly: He contributed 6.5 points per game in 36 regular-season contests, earning an early role in the Thunder’s rotation before missing nearly the entire second half of the regular season with turf toe.
He averaged just eight minutes per game during the playoffs, but Presti and coach Mark Daigneault saw enough to re-sign Mitchell to a three-year, $9 million contract — a deal that looked like a ridiculous steal even before this playoff emergence.
Mitchell has proved he can be a creator and a scorer, but he earned Daigneault’s trust by contributing on defense. The coach recognizes Mitchell’s inexperience in the postseason, but it hasn’t stopped the coach from putting Mitchell at the center of their effort.
“He doesn’t have a ton of basketball in the NBA,” Daigneault said. “The growth curve of players young in their career is steep, and he’s a guy that’s hungry, he’s also humble. So he grows from all of his experiences. He’s been great in the postseason so far, but he hasn’t been wholly efficient yet. I think that’s a little bit the intensity of the games, the physicality, the length. … And yet he stays aggressive and he just keeps playing.”