It’s rare to hear this – “I gotta get my assists up,” but that’s what Donovan Mitchell said in conjunction to his declaration that the goal for himself and the Utah Jazz is a championship.

According to Yahoo Sports, Donovan Mitchell is coming off of a sensational rookie season that saw the Utah Jazz not only do well in the regular season, subsequently securing the team the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and then advancing to the second round of those same playoffs.

Mitchell, going into his sophomore season wasn’t shy to add his opinion. The star guard said, “… I just laugh when people ask me… Because I’m like, ‘Would you ask that same question to Boston?’ What’s next for us is a championship, and you can ask anyone in the organization and in the city and they’ll tell you what’s next.”

What is a given is Donovan Mitchell’s passion and drive to win. And he’s in the Western Conference where the team to beat is obviously the Golden State Warriors. But behind them is the Houston Rockets who seem poised to rival the defending champions; factor in the newly led Los Angeles Lakers by LeBron James and there’s undoubtedly a tough road ahead for the Utah Jazz and the rest of the Western Conference teams. This factors into what is to be expected and specifically for Mitchell and his Utah Jazz. It’s well understood that expectations are that they improve while aspirations of chasing the NBA title seems far off – but’s that’s to others – Mitchell believes they are on the road to that, and in order for them to progress further he has to do more, he has to get more assists.

Mitchell states, “Just because I average 20 points, I tell people all the time, if I wasn’t a rookie, this would be a regular season… It’s 20 points, three rebounds, and three assists. That’s not spectacular. That’s average. So, I have a lot to improve on… I gotta get my assist numbers up for sure. I’m a much better passer than what I showed last year.”

The sophomore sensation continued his scoring ways against the Sacramento Kings scoring 24 points in a 123-117 victory on the road for the Jazz’s season opener. But definitely begin to look for his stat line to fill up and possibly with that the Utah Jazz’s win column. And one thing is clear: for Donovan Mitchell, anything less will not acceptable.