How Davion Mitchell built the game Miami now needs

Alapag focused on balance, a more consistent arc, and holding the follow-through. They revisited footage from Mitchell’s national championship season at Baylor, looking at how he finished his release.

There was an additional complication: Mitchell’s day job was chasing people.

“He’s exerting so much effort on the defensive end,” Alapag said.

The challenge was maintaining those fundamentals on the next possession, with the energy spent containing an opposing guard still in his legs.

Mitchell supplied the commitment. Alapag recalled their first morning at the Sanctuary training facility in Spain, after a busy stretch of travel. Mitchell asked an NBPA representative to open the gym at 6 a.m. so they could work before everyone else.

“You would be hard-pressed to find anybody who works harder,” Alapag said.

The results took time, and the career path did not cooperate neatly. Mitchell’s minutes fell from 27.7 per game as a Sacramento rookie to 15.3 in his third season. His three-point percentage nevertheless rose from 31.6 to 36.1% over that span. The improvement was underway before Miami.

The change that was needed

After a stop in Toronto, he joined the Heat in February 2025 and shot 44.7 percent from three over 30 regular-season games, including a hot streak against Atlanta in the play-in which propelled Miami to the playoffs. An encouraging introduction, certainly. Also, only 94 attempts.

The more meaningful test came last season: 39.5 percent on 228 attempts, while starting all 70 games he played.

Across his first 100 regular-season appearances with Miami, Mitchell made 132 of 322 threes, or 41.0%. Before arriving, he was 263-for-792, or 33.2%. That increase does not tell us how much credit belongs to mechanics, opportunity, or environment. It does make the improvement harder to dismiss as a brief hot streak.

His decision-making has become more useful, too. Mitchell averaged 6.5 assists last season against 1.5 turnovers. Using the actual totals, 453 assists and 108 turnovers, his assist-to-turnover ratio was 4.19, up from 3.20 during his initial Miami stint.

And that growth did not simply come from extra minutes. His assists per 36 minutes increased from approximately 6.1 to 8.2 between those two Heat seasons.

Dunks & Threes’ season-specific Estimated Plus-Minus model rated his 2025-26 impact at plus-0.6 points per 100 possessions relative to an average player, placing him in its 75th percentile. That is evidence of a positive contributor, with the usual uncertainty of an estimate. It is not a certificate guaranteeing he can close every playoff matchup.

For Miami, the practical value is straightforward: Mitchell can organize possessions, get teammates involved, and offer a more credible answer when defenders leave him open.

Alapag sees progress in his reads, finishing, and consistency from three. He also still sees the player willing to sit down with him and compare notes on film.

“I’m going to lean on my own experience,” Alapag recalled telling Mitchell, explaining how he approached coaching someone playing in a league he had never reached as a player.

That willingness to learn has been joined by a willingness to lead.

At Monday’s Media Day, Antetokounmpo singled out Mitchell among the teammates who had impressed him during their offseason work. Speaking to Heat on SI’s Brady Hawk, Giannis praised his influence within the group: “he wants to be a leader, he wants to lead by example.”

The Heat had already gathered for a players-only camp Mitchell dubbed “pain camp.” Apparently, a roster introduction in Miami comes with a conditioning component.

Building familiarity is one thing. Making the offense fit will require another adjustment.

Time to make defenses pay

With Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo sharing the floor, Mitchell must be ready to shoot when help defenders drift toward the paint. His 39.5% accuracy is encouraging; his 3.3 three-point attempts per game leave a question about volume. A defender can still gamble off a good shooter who hesitates.

The arrivals of Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. give Erik Spoelstra additional shooting options, while a 20-pounds leaner Bobby Portis adds another frontcourt choice. Mitchell’s job should involve getting the ball to those threats quickly, working with Adebayo in screening actions and remaining useful when Giannis initiates.

Defensively, the potential is appealing: Mitchell applying pressure up front, with Adebayo and Antetokounmpo protecting behind him. Whether that becomes a championship-level combination will be decided over possessions far more demanding than an offseason workout.

Alapag will be watching from afar, as both a coach and someone who knows Mitchell beyond the scouting report.

“I’m one of his biggest fans,” he said.

He will probably have a thought about the follow-through, too.