Sometimes a gem in the NBA draft falls to the late lottery, where a team that’s already competitive picks up an unexpectedly valuable piece to add to its roster.

In 2017, the Utah Jazz found that value in Donovan Mitchell with the 13th pick of the draft.

Mitchell earned All-Rookie honors that season in a campaign that didn’t end with Rookie of the Year honors thanks to an even more impressive first-year effort from Ben Simmons.

But his rookie year averages of 20.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game helped propel the Jazz to the playoffs and a first-round win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Mitchell sets new scoring mark for Jazz

He’s improved his scoring in his second season to the tune of 23.3 points per game, leading a team that’s long forgotten about Gordon Hayward to what looks like a second straight playoff appearance.

And he’s passed a Jazz icon and NBA legend in the process.

Donovan Mitchell became the fastest Jazz player ever to score 3,000 points. (Getty)

With his 11th point on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, Mitchell became the fastest Jazz player to score 3,000 career points.

He did it in his 139th game.

That means he got there faster than Karl Malone, the NBA’s second all-time scoring leader.

Mitchell take’s Griffith’s record, not Malone’s

But Malone wasn’t the player’s whose Jazz record Mitchell surpassed on Tuesday. That honor previously belonged to Darrell Griffith, who scored his 3,000th career point in his 150th game.

Of course Mitchell’s accomplishment doesn’t mean he’s on track to surpass Malone on the career scoring list. He’s an excellent young player, but he’s also an inefficient scorer, hitting 42.9 percent of his field goals, of which he takes many.

That’s not a formula to becoming the league’s No. 2 all-time scorer. But he doesn’t have to be that. Mitchell’s everything and more the Jazz hoped for when they drafted him at No. 13, and that’s good enough.

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