Kings’ De’Aaron Fox says drafting Davion Mitchell was “good for team”

The Sacramento Kings have an impressive young backcourt with point guard De’Aaron Fox and now Tyrese Haliburton next to him, plus they have Buddy Hield and can bring Terrence Davis off the bench. That’s a lot of guards.

So it turned a few heads when the Kings drafted point guard Davion Mitchell out of Baylor with the No. 9 pick. Mitchell quieted critics when he impressed at Summer League with his defense on players like Payton Pritchard, and he was named co-MVP in Las Vegas.

The existing King guards are excited to have Mitchell and his defense in Sacramento. Here is what Fox said, via Jason Alexander of the Sacramento Bee.

Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox says he welcomes the addition of Davion Mitchell and his defensive mindset, saying it's "great for the team" and "he’s definitely going to come in and help us change a lot of that."

— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) September 20, 2021

“He’s an older rookie, so he’s more NBA ready and he’s a stronger guy. He’s over 200 pounds at like 6-foot or 6-1, so I think he’s ready. I think he’s ready to contribute to the team now. We’ve played pickup and he’s an NBA player.” -- De'Aaron Fox on Davion Mitchell

— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) September 20, 2021

Haliburton praised Mitchell as well when on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast (hat tip James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area).

“I’m really interested and really excited about it,” Haliburton said. “I think at first, the instant reaction by a lot of people was why would the Kings take another guard? They already have two guards, with Buddy [Hield] and Terrence Davis and the guards we have in our backcourt. But I see a fit because they’re bringing in another guy who’s very defensive-minded.”

Mitchell will start in a defensive stopper role off the bench for the Kings, but how much run he gets as a rookie in that deep backcourt remains to be seen. He does bring a skill set Sacramento needs (they were not just the worst defense in the NBA last season, they were historically bad), Mitchell is going to get his chances. If it’s anything like Summer League, he will take advantage of those chances.

The Kings will need all of their guards to step up, and a lot more defense, if they are going to snap their 15-year playoff drought this season in a deep West.