Donovan Mitchell struggled in the closing minutes of the Jazz’s overtime win against the Pistons on Wednesday night, turning over the ball and taking some bad shots. He also wasn’t invited to participate in the NBA’s slam dunk contest during its All-Star weekend coming up next month.

Bummer.

No, it’s not.

Neither should be any concern to him, the Jazz or their fans.

Both are actually good news for the 21-year-old rookie — and for his team.

In those final minutes in Detroit, Mitchell …

1) Airballed a forced shot in traffic to the left of the lane with the score tied at 79-79;

2) Fumbled the ball as he was double-teamed to Andre Drummond, who went the other way for a dunk to give the Pistons an 83-79 lead;

3) Forced another shot in the lane, going one-on-two and barely drawing iron on an attempt that was recovered by the Pistons;

4) Was beat off the dribble on defense in a sequence that led to a Drummond basket and an 85-79 lead for Detroit;

5) Took an inbounds pass, drove toward the hoop, spinning his way free in front of the basket and having his shot blocked out of bounds with the Jazz down two with 5.9 seconds left;

6) Jacked up a deep ball — and missed — early in OT, his ninth consecutive scud;

7) Dusted the net with a sweet 25-footer to extend the Jazz lead to 98-91;

8) Drove to the basket through three defenders, having the ball slapped off his knee and out of bounds to give possession back to the Pistons, who were down five;

9) Was fouled on another drive, Jazz inbounded;

10) Fiddled-and-faddled with the ball way up top then launched a completely unnecessary straightaway bomb that missed wide left with 18 seconds left on the game clock and 8 seconds on the shot clock with the Jazz up by three. The Pistons rebounded with a chance to tie the score. Detroit missed that opportunity.

And the Jazz got double-barreled benefits out of the whole thing.

They won a road game, something they’ve done only six times this season. And just as importantly in a year like this, the rookie waded through the mess.

For all the celebration over Mitchell for the wondrous, spectacular things he’s done in his first 1,424 minutes of pro play, he needs to have experiences like the ones he had Wednesday night, too. Has to.

There’s no getting around them, only through them. A rookie is going to make mistakes — a bunch of them. He’s going to take shots he shouldn’t take and misread situations. He’s going to turn over the ball and fall asleep. He’s going to force the action and press. He’s going to think he can conquer the world, even when he can’t.

At least a confident, aggressive, talented one will.

It’s reminiscent of Kobe Bryant in his rookie year, when the Lakers faced the Jazz in the playoffs and the youngster took shots at significant moments that only he thought — knew — he could make. Only on those occasions, he couldn’t.

Afterward, he shied away not at all, professing that he would live and learn.

And he did.

Not saying Mitchell is Kobe. But the fact that he thinks like him this early in the game is nobody’s curse.

That’s why Quin Snyder allows and enables Mitchell to do what he’s doing — handle the ball, read the floor, take shots, make decisions with games on the line. It might not work out all the time now, or even most of the time, but it eventually will.

It’s as important as anything that will be accomplished by the Jazz this season — seasoning the unseasoned.

As for Mitchell not being invited, as he hoped, to the slam dunk contest, that unopened door ranks about No. 1,000 on the list of priorities for the rook. What bit of real importance would that invitation bring the kid and his team?

Think it over. … We’ll wait.

Still waiting.

There is none. Mitchell and fans might think it would be kind of cool for him to be in the spotlight for a few moments over the weekend, beyond the Rising Stars Challenge, with all the big names watching him tomahawk a ball through a hoop while juggling soup cans or bowling balls or scarfing pizza, trying to come up with something creative, something nobody’s seen before.

Problem is, there isn’t anything that hasn’t been seen.

That snub then is really nothing at all. Remember, the Jazz’s Jeremy Evans won the dunk contest a few years back, and that didn’t advance his career much. Just like it wouldn’t have advanced Mitchell’s.

He’s got too much to look forward to in authentic competition in seasons ahead.

Plus, he’ll get a sliver of additional rest for the remainder of this one.

Donovan Mitchell is going to be OK, a whole lot more than just that, and part of the reason will be because of bumbles and bricks, stumbles and snubs and fumbles, errors and an overall education that will teach him in a powerful way what he has to learn: That he’s going to be great — but not all the time, not yet.