Film Room: Tre Mitchell

Welcome to Big Blue Nation, Tre Mitchell! On Monday afternoon, the 6’9″ 225 pound graduate transfer from West Virginia announced that he would be heading to play for the Kentucky Wildcats. It will be Mitchell’s fourth school in five seasons, but he has been productive every step of the way. The former 4-star prospect out of Woodstock Academy originally attended Massachusetts and dominated the A-10 for two seasons. As a freshman, Mitchell averaged 17.7 points and 7.2 rebounds to earn Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-A-10 honors. He returned as a sophomore and averaged 18.8 points and 7.2 rebounds on his way to First Team All-A-10 Honors. Mitchell was able to turn those two excellent seasons into an opportunity to compete in the Big 12.

As a junior at Texas, Mitchell was a more than serviceable front court piece for the Longhorns as they won 22 games and made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The 6’9″ forward averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds that season. Finally, the Pittsburgh native went back towards home where he averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at West Virginia. Above all else, Kentucky is getting a veteran presence with a ton of college basketball experience. Mitchell has started 92 of 102 career games while scoring 1,398 points. Something that Wildcat fans will like to see too is that he has made 103 career three-point shots at 34.7% clip. This is a very good player that feels a major front court need for Kentucky.

Admittedly, June 26th isn’t when most fans would have guessed the first transfer portal win of the offseason would come. Games aren’t played until November though so timing isn’t as important as some people seem to think. It has been a long, winding road to get to this point. It is also fair to say that there have been some potholes and roadblocks along the way. However, the end result is all that really matters and Kentucky got a lot closer to having a contending final product with Monday’s commitment.

It is time to step inside the KSR Film Room to get to know another new face. After welcoming seven incoming freshman to the Big Blue Nation, Kentucky finally gets a veteran presence alongside Antonio Reeves. Tre Mitchell has played a lot of college basketball and has been productive through his career. He is a versatile presence that can stretch the floor, finish with his back to the basket, and pass the ball well for his size. There will be question marks defensively, but the ‘Cats will have enough rim protection to cover some holes there. Additionally, Mitchell turns the ball over too much. However, he likely won’t be asked to create as much as he was at previous stops. Case in point, he turned the ball over far less at Texas than UMass or WVU. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about Tre Mitchell.

Stretch the Floor

Tre Mitchell isn’t your stereotypical stretch 4-man. He won’t shoot that volume of three-pointers and has much more of an inside game than a pure face-up big man. However, by Kentucky’s standards at the forward position he might as well be a marksman. Mitchell has made 103 three-point shots in 102 career games at a 34.7% clip. Adding guys who can make one three per game at around 35% is exactly what we talk about when trying to become more skilled and improve Kentucky’s overall volume from beyond the arc. This 6’9″ graduate transfer has been exactly that through four seasons of college basketball. Here is a look at how he will stretch the floor for the Wildcats.

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A major positive of recruiting transfers versus high school talent is getting to see them operate in an actual college basketball game. It is one thing to make step back three-pointers against bad defense. However, it is another thing to see Tre Mitchell make perimeter shots off of actual half-court offense that works at the high-major level. This is a really impressive example of that here. Mitchell rejects the diagonal backscreen to step back and face-up at the top of the key. His defender never fully closes out so he makes him pay. That is a real shot that we could see in Lexington next season.

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Kentucky hasn’t had many true pick-and-pop threats during the Coach Calipari era. At 6’9″ Mitchell has the size to get his shot off over most closeouts and his footwork is sound on the perimeter. His ability to pick-and-pop on the perimeter will add a totally different wrinkle for opposing defenses to deal with. Playing with guards like DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, and Antonio Reeves should get Mitchell plenty of looks like this on the wing.

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Shots like this are where you can start to really get excited about Tre Mitchell’s potential as a shooting threat. Having the confidence, and skill, to make this three-pointer could completely open up Kentucky’s offense next season. You don’t see many 6’9″ forwards coming off of a downscreen this early in the shot clock and knock one in on the wing. You can see the Iowa State defender start to go up through, but then changes his mind too late and runs into the screen. Having skill on the floor leads to defensive mistakes like that.

Playmaking Ability

Kentucky was plagued last season with low basketball IQ nearly across the board. The on-court awareness simply wasn’t there to react and adjust on the fly. Whether it be from playing 102 games just having a good understanding, Tre Mitchell flashes some pretty high level awareness with the ball in his hands. In the post, he routinely makes the right read. He also is athletic and skilled enough to get himself out of dicey situations. These next three clips will point to his playmaking ability both when facing up and in the post.

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The 6’9″ Michell is really good at operating off of the block. His thinner, 225-pound frame keeps him from being a bruiser on the block, but he has the skill to be really good a couple steps off of the block. Here you see him immediately pick up the double team coming from the high side. Instead of panicking, Mitchell faces up to better asses the situation. From there, he spins around the second defender, drives it left two dribbles, and dunks the ball with his off-hand. That takes some pretty serious skill as a forward.

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There are so many things you can do offensively with a skilled forward. West Virginia ran a lot of set action for Tre Mitchell last season. He was excellent at playing off of a Flex screen, he would come off of a diagonal backscreen, or they would isolate him at the top of the key for “get” or “zoom” action. In this clip, his defender overplays it a bit and Mitchell has a runway to the rim. He puts the ball on the floor one time with his left and then explodes to the basket to finish the And-1. Defenses gamble to keep the ball out of good player’s hands.

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Nobody is going to mistake Tre Mitchell for Nikola Jokic. However, he is a skilled passer with good awareness and poise under pressure. Here you see him read the double team once again and immediately know where to send the basketball. There is a high ceiling with what Coach Calipari will be able to scheme up with Mitchell in the front court.

Back to the Basket Scoring

Tre Mitchell has shot at least 52.2% from two-point range in each of his four college basketball seasons. That is pretty good for a guy who isn’t a traditional bruiser in the post. The 6’9″ Mitchell is going to face-up, spin, and use finesse more than strength to score around the basket. However, he still puts the ball in the basket efficiently and that will likely only improve when playing with the talent that will surround him at Kentucky. Here are some of the ways that Mitchell scored the ball in the post last season at West Virginia.

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This Flex-type action was a go-to for West Virginia last season. Mitchell had a lot of success scoring the ball off of that Flex cut because he is quick enough to beat his man to the spot and then skilled enough to finish in a variety of ways. This time he is giving up some athleticism and strength, but he has at least two inches on Kansas’ K.J. Adams after the switch. Therefore, Mitchell stops on the block and goes up to finish over his left shoulder. Again, good awareness and skill from the veteran forward.

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Something that Tre Mitchell does very well is turn his drives into post moves at the end. This is a skill Jacob Toppin could just never fully master at Kentucky. That quick little spin after the first dribble is the key to making this a successful move. Mitchell gets all the way to the midline, fakes back to his left shoulder, and then has the skill to finish with his left hand out around his defender. That is a big time play.

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Playing to your strengths is the sign of a smart, veteran player. Tre Mitchell knows he isn’t the most physically imposing front court presence. He isn’t going to make his money backing down his defender and scoring at the front of the rim. However, he does have an advantage when it comes to quickness, footwork, and skill. Once again, this move begins by getting all the way to the midline. Then, Mitchell creates space with the little right shoulder fake into his patented fadeaway jumper. He has made this shot at a high percentage throughout his career.