Cleveland Cavaliers superstar guard Donovan Mitchell has an idea about one player who needs to get added to the field of NBA 3-point contest participants: his Cavs teammate Sam Merrill.
“Good Morning… put Sam Merrill in the 3pt contest ‼️ ” Mitchell posted on X (formerly Twitter) along with a grainy video of Merrill’s legendary game-winning shot for the Utah State Aggies against the San Diego State Aztecs in a Mountain West Tournament title game.
Donovan Mitchell wants Sam Merrill to be part of the 3-point contest in Indianapolis
Sure, Merrill isn’t a household name just yet, but Mitchell knows how lethal his teammate’s hands are when it comes to getting buckets from deep. So far in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, Merrill is making 2.3 3-pointers on 5.6 attempts from behind the arc per game. That’s an incredible 41.4 percent conversion rate on long bombs for Merrill, who was selected last overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He is also averaging 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 41.2 percent from the floor.
Merrill was sent by the Bucks to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2021 and was waived by the Grizzlies the following year. He then signed a two-year deal with the Sacramento Kings before getting waived. He joined the Cavs in March of 2023 on a 10-day contract and seemingly impressed the team enough to earn a three-year, $5.01 million deal with Cleveland.
Hopefully for Mitchell and the Cavs, Merrill will indeed find his way to the 3-point shootout participants list. The contest is scheduled to take place in February in Indianapolis.