Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Stuffs stat sheet in SL win
Rotowire
Mitchell amassed 19 points (6-14 FG, 2-4 3Pt, 5-7 FT), eight assists, five rebounds and two steals across 26 minutes in Tuesday's 86-82 Summer League loss to Utah.
Mitchell led the Thunder in scoring while dishing out a game-best eight assists, albeit in a losing effort. The 23-year-old point guard has now tallied at least 16 points and five assists in all three of the Thunder's Summer League outings. While Oklahoma City boasts considerable backcourt depth, Mitchell could carve out a consistent role in the club's rotation during the 2025-26 campaign and will likely compete for minutes with Nikola Topic behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Stuffs stat sheet in SL win
Rotowire
Mitchell tallied 16 points (3-11 FG, 1-2 3Pt, 9-9 FT), five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal across 25 minutes in Monday's 89-78 Summer League win over the 76ers.
Mitchell couldn't match his impressive scoring performance from Saturday, when he poured in 24 points on 55.6 percent shooting, but he made a strong all-around impact in Monday's win. The guard saw a decent amount of action as a rookie during the 2024-25 regular season, averaging 6.5 points on 49.5 percent shooting in 16.6 minutes across 36 games, including one start. The Thunder have a deep roster but clearly value Mitchell, having signed him to a three-year, $9 million deal this offseason.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Excels in summer opener
Rotowire
Mitchell logged 24 points (10-18 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 3-3 FT), six assists, one rebound and one steal across 27 minutes Saturday in the Thunder's 92-80 loss to the Grizzlies in the Salt Lake City Summer League.
After averaging 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists over 36 appearances with Oklahoma City as a rookie, Mitchell recently agreed to a new three-year, $9 million deal with the Thunder. At least in the early going of summer ball, Mitchell looks as though he'll handle a key playmaking and scoring role in the Oklahoma City backcourt alongside 2024 first-round pick Nikola Topic (knee), who is healthy again after missing all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL. Mitchell and Topic could head into training camp essentially in a competition for a spot in a deep group of guards headlined by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and which also includes Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Expected to sign with OKC
Rotowire
Mitchell intends to sign a three-year contract worth nearly $9 million with the Thunder, Shams Charania of ESPN reports Sunday.
Mitchell is expected to return to Oklahoma City on a longer-term deal after the club declined its team option in his contract for 2025-26. The 23-year-old appeared in 36 regular-season outings (one start) during his rookie season, averaging 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists across 16.6 minutes per game.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Makes cameo Sunday
Rotowire
Mitchell tallied no counting stats in one minute during Sunday's 103-91 win over Indiana in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Mitchell saw brief action in Sunday's championship win but didn't record a stat. The rookie appeared in just over half of Oklahoma City's playoff games, playing in 12 of 23 and averaging 7.0 minutes in those contests. During the regular season, he averaged 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes across 36 games, including one start.
Mitchell racked up 14 points (6-11 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 1-1 FT), one assist and one steal over 19 minutes during Saturday's 143-101 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Thunder was no match for the Timberwolves, waving the white flag early and consequently affording the bench unit with some extra run. Mitchell made the most of a rare opportunity, matching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with a team-high 14 points. Mitchell has not been on the court when it matters thus far during the playoffs, making this nothing more than an outlier.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Won't play against Phoenix
Rotowire
Mitchell (toe) has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Suns.
Mitchell will miss a 46th consecutive game for the Thunder as he recovers from toe surgery. The next opportunity for him to return to the lineup will be Friday against the Jazz.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Ruled out for Tuesday
Rotowire
Mitchell (toe) won't play Tuesday against the Lakers.
Mitchell hasn't take the court since Jan. 3 while on the mend from toe surgery. His next chance to suit up will arrive Wednesday in Phoenix.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Won't play vs. LAL
Rotowire
Mitchell (toe) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Lakers.
Mitchell will miss a 44th consecutive game for the Thunder while recovering from toe surgery. The next chance for him to return to the floor for Oklahoma City will be Tuesday against the Lakers.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Remaining out for Friday
Rotowire
Mitchell (toe) has been ruled out for Friday's game against the Rockets.
Mitchell hasn't played since Jan. 3 after undergoing a procedure to address the turf toe sprain in his right big toe. There's no clear timetable for the rookie second-round pick's return, though his next chance to feature will come Sunday against the Lakers.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Upgraded to two-year deal
Rotowire
The Thunder converted Mitchell (toe) from a two-way contract to a standard two-year contract Thursday, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.
Mitchell has been sidelined since early January after suffering a turf toe sprain of his right big toe and undergoing surgery. Though he's not expected to return until late in the regular season if not the playoffs, Mitchell displayed enough promise while he was healthy and playing on a two-way deal for the Thunder to upgrade him to a spot on the 15-man roster. The transaction will make Mitchell eligible to play in the playoffs once healthy, but he's unlikely to be in store for major minutes while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is healthy. The 22-year-old rookie had averaged 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 16.5 minutes per game over 34 games prior to going down with the injury.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Facing long-term absence
Rotowire
The Thunder announced Friday that Mitchell underwent a successful procedure to address a turf toe sprain in his right big toe. Mitchell will be re-evaluated in 10-to-12 weeks.
The injury comes at a tough time for Mitchell, who was expected to be upgraded from a two-way contract to a standard NBA deal after the Thunder waived center Branden Carlson earlier this week. However, in the wake of Mitchell's injury, the Thunder have since re-signed Carlson to a 10-day deal to fill the open spot on the 15-man roster. A rookie second-round draft pick, Mitchell has been a mainstay in the Thunder rotation this season, averaging 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 16.4 minutes while shooting 50.6 percent from the field over 34 appearances (one start). Given the timeline provided by the team, Mitchell will likely be sidelined until late March or early April, and it wouldn't be surprising if he remained out through the end of the regular season.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Ruled out for Sunday
Rotowire
Mitchell (toe) will not play Sunday against Boston.
Mitchell exited at the 1:30 mark in the third quarter of Friday's game and did not return, and he was later diagnosed with a toe sprain. It's not a good sign that he's being ruled out a day in advance, so he should be considered questionable at best for Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Notches 17 points
Rotowire
Mitchell ended Sunday's 130-106 win over the Grizzlies with 17 points (6-11 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT), one rebound, three assists and one steal in 22 minutes.
Despite moving back to the bench with Cason Wallace (quadriceps) and Luguentz Dort (ankle) back in the lineup, Mitchell responded with a season-high 17 points, though he was aided by some garbage time in the lopsided win. Mitchell is hard to trust outside of very deep formats when the Thunder are at full strength.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Back to bench Sunday
Rotowire
Mitchell is not in the Thunder's starting lineup against the Grizzlies on Sunday, Clemente Almanza of USA Today reports.
Mitchell made his first start of the regular season during Saturday's 106-94 win over the Hornets, and he finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists over 32 minutes. He will revert to a reserve role Sunday due to the return of Cason Wallace (quadriceps) and Luguentz Dort (ankle).
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Promoted to starting role
Rotowire
Mitchell is in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Hornets.
The Thunder will be missing two key contributors in Cason Wallace (quadriceps) and Luguentz Dort (ankle), so Mitchell will move into a starting role on the wing. He'll start alongside Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Aaron Wiggins, Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein. This will be Mitchell's first start of the campaign. He's averaging 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game across 14.1 minutes per game off the bench in December.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Erupts off bench
Rotowire
Mitchell ended Monday's 123-105 victory over the Wizards with 16 points (6-7 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 2-3 FT), 12 rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 22 minutes.
Mitchell posted career-high marks in points (16) and rebounds (12), taking advantage of some garbage time during the win. Fantasy managers won't want to overreact to this outlier, as Mitchell has averaged just 13.9 minutes through 10 December contests.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Plays reduced role in win
Rotowire
Mitchell provided two points (1-3 FG), one rebound, two assists and one steal over 10 minutes during Tuesday's 118-104 win over Dallas.
Mitchell logged just 10 minutes after averaging 18.3 minutes per game in each of the three previous appearances. Despite appearing in every game thus far, Mitchell has served up modest averages of just 5.6 points, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals in 16.0 minutes per game.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Returns to practice
Rotowire
Mitchell was a full participant in Saturday's practice, Clemente Almanza of USA Today reports.
Mitchell missed the Thunder's previous preseason contest due to an ankle injury but appears to have fully recovered. The rookie guard should be available for Tuesday's preseason matchup with Denver.
... See More... See Less
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell: Racks up team-high 19 points Monday
Rotowire
Mitchell notched 19 points (8-13 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 2-4 FT), two rebounds, two assists and one steal across 24 minutes during Monday's 112-107 preseason win over the Spurs.
Mitchell exploded for a team-high 19 points while coming off the bench. The No. 38 overall pick of the 2024 Draft was a scoring machine in his final season with UC Santa Barbara, during which he averaged 20.0 points while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. Mitchell will likely struggle to find significant playing time among a stacked Thunder backcourt, but he is expected to spend some time in the G League to further develop under a two-way pact.
