From Belgium to Santa Barbara to Oklahoma City: Ajay Mitchell’s winding path to a successful season
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Most NBA players grew up dreaming of stepping onto this stage. They were the stars of middle school AAU teams with fantasies of becoming the next Stephen Curry or Paul George.
Growing up in Ans, Belgium, Ajay Mitchell also dreamed of the NBA, but there was a bigger question: Did he really want to be the next Jalen Brunson or the next Belgium/Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne?
“Oh, that’s a good question. I think a little bit of both,” Mitchell told NBC Sports, adding that he played football when he was younger and is still a big fan. “I think, until I was 14, it was probably both. And then, when I was 14, I decided to just play basketball, because, obviously, in Belgium, there were no high school sports, so it was hard to play multiple sports because it’s all in the same season. So, when I was 14, I decided to just play basketball.”
That decision was the first step in a winding journey that took Mitchell through idyllic Santa Barbara, California, and eventually brought him to Oklahoma City, where fans now see an “overnight” sensation averaging 16.1 points per game, someone who is the current DraftKings betting favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year.
But that journey was anything but overnight.
From Belgium to Santa Barbara to OKC
After Mitchell committed to basketball, he soon found himself in Limburg United’s youth program in Belgium, where he played as a member of the youth team, then moved up to the senior team during the 2020-21 season.
“I think it really helped me play professionally before college,” Mitchell said, in terms of getting used to a level of play.
However, for the boy with an American father, playing college football in the United States has always been the dream. He landed at UC Santa Barbara, a beachside campus that might be the quietest college in America.
“It was a pretty seamless adjustment for me…” Mitchell said of the move to the United States. “I think the fact that it was in Santa Barbara really helped me. We had about six freshmen coming in when I came in, so it was really easy to adjust. And the guys that were already there just brought us in. So it was, it was really smooth.
“And I think off the field it was pretty easy. It’s a great school, so I was really happy.”
As he is now in OKC, Mitchell wasn’t flashy in Santa Barbara, but he just played the right basketball game and knocked down his shots — you could see he knew how to play the game. He was always doing the little things and made an impact right from the start, being named the Big West Freshman of the Year in 2022. The following season, he averaged 16.3 points and 5.1 assists per game for the Gauchos and was the Big West Player of the Year.
He was also attracting the interest of scouts. By the end of the 2023-24 season, Mitchell declared for the NBA Draft.
Adapting to Oklahoma City
The Knicks selected Mitchell with the 38th pick but immediately traded him to the Thunder, with whom he signed a two-way contract. Even then, Mitchell was overlooked and in the shadows: Nikola Topić was the Thunder’s lottery pick in that draft. However, Topic was injured while Mitchell was playing rotation minutes as a rookie, thanks to his efforts in Summer League and training camp. Mitchell was getting busy and the Thunder took notice.
“Last year he was playing rotation minutes in the first game of the season for what was a very deep team…” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It allowed him to get a few kilometers under him and learn the championship a bit, so when he sat down [due to injury]he sat down with the contextual awareness of what it meant to be an NBA player and play NBA games. I think he was still able to learn and evolve even though he was out.”
Mitchell missed three months of his rookie season with a toe injury that required surgery, but by then the Thunder knew what they had and converted his two-way contract to a standard one. From his perspective, Mitchell was still trying to figure things out and adjust, but he said the key is that he never stopped looking for ways to improve.
“Speed is definitely one of them. I think defensively as well, being able to guard multiple positions,” Mitchell said of the toughest changes since moving from Santa Barbara to the NBA. “I think everything is such a different game than college…
“It was an adjustment, but I think I quickly realized that this is the NBA and, for me, my goal is to have a long career. So understanding what I needed to do to help a team win was really important right from the start and I think it’s been a pretty seamless adjustment. Obviously, I just want to win, so when I’m focused on what I need to do to help the team win, that’s all I need to do.”
Just as he previously went from Belgium to Santa Barbara, the move from a coastal California oasis to Oklahoma City was made much easier because the Thunder are a young roster with a core around his age (23).
“It definitely makes it easier. Obviously, we have a lot of young guys, and then we all hang out together,” Mitchell said. “So it’s fun to have such a young team and it was really easy for me to get into the mix of things with those guys, and they made it really easy for me to get into everything they do.”
Making the leap this season
Mitchell returned from his season-ending toe injury and was on the roster for the Thunder’s run to the NBA title last spring.
“Obviously, I think anyone who gets in a playoff run like that and gets some minutes, sometimes spot minutes, is good for them,” Daigneault said. “Then he was able to take that wisdom into his summer. It made his body really, really strong, it made his game tighter and better, and he came out strong this year.”
Once again, that “overnight” success came because of a summer spent in the gym, specifically the weight room.
“I’ve always wanted to be a complete player, so I think every summer for me is like working on a little bit of everything or trying to get better at a lot of things,” Mitchell said. “I think the main goal [this summer] it was my body. When you come into the league as a rookie, you definitely feel the difference in physicality and the way the game is played. So I think for me the goal was to get stronger, get faster and be ready to play at this level… It’s such a long season compared to a college season, you want to be healthy and be ready every night.
Getting stronger has really shown in his drives: Mitchell is aggressive, tries to get downhill, and is second on the Thunder in drives per game at 12.1 (behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the league in that category; Mitchell is driving more this season than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is at 11.7 per game). A stronger Mitchell is now giving defenders a shoulder and getting to his spots. Once there, he reads, passes or shoots the right way. For him the game has slowed down and it shows.
This summer, Mitchell signed a three-year, $8.7 million contract (with a team option in the final season) that now looks like a steal for the Thunder. Mitchell came out playing aggressively, took on secondary playmaking duties off the bench and on an already deep team became an exceptional sixth man.
Mitchell is taking everything in stride.
“For me, I just want to help this team win in any way I can,” Mitchell said. “I don’t really look at any role. I just go out there and do what it takes to win.”
The Thunder 8-0 they are winning. Mitchell is also winning and could do a lot more this season – and even bring home some championship hardware.
Just don’t call it an “overnight” success.