Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson spoke out in favor of Donovan Mitchell after his teammate wasn’t listed among the top five shooting guards in the NBA general manager survey released on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters about the results, Thompson made it clear that Mitchell is “easily” one of the five best two-guards in the NBA right now:

“Just use it as motivation. Kick they ass, you know? ‘You didn’t put me on the list. I’m gonna use it as motivation.’ Just kick everyone’s ass and when the GM’s have their golf shirts on, just walk by and be like … just hold it down.

“There are 30 teams. Let’s say there are, what, four guys just as good as him? So, that’s like 25 other guys he is better than. So, 25 of you GMs I’m better than your best player that you guys are probably paying the same amount of money or paying less and probably stuck with him because you can’t trade him because they’re not good enough, whereas Donovan is really good. Donovan is a top 5 two-guard, easily. Sounds like they have a problem. Sounds like they have been making bad decisions.”

The top five two-guards, as voted on by all 30 NBA GMs, were Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry and Luka Dončić. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White also received votes.

There is a semantic argument about the difference between a point guard and shooting guard. Dončić and Curry were also voted among the top three point guards, with Gilgeous-Alexander sandwiched between them at No. 2. Jaylen Brown alternates between being a two-guard and small forward.

If players were only eligible to be voted at one position that is their primary spot, that would open up a spot for Mitchell in the shooting guard list to potentially get in the top five.

Mitchell’s standing outside the top five players at his position isn’t anything new. He hasn’t been ranked either in the top five or in the others receiving votes category in any season since entering the league in 2017.

It doesn’t help his chances that the two-guard spot is loaded with talent right now. Of the seven players who received votes, it’s hard to argue that you would take Mitchell above any of them.

Mitchell’s limited success in the playoffs could also be impacting his standing. His teams have only advanced past the first round three times in seven postseason appearances, with no conference finals trips on his resume.

This isn’t to suggest that Mitchell isn’t a terrific player. He has made the All-Star team in each of the past five seasons, finished sixth in MVP voting during the 2022-23 season and has averaged at least 20 points per game in each of his first seven seasons.

Thompson is absolutely right to defend his teammate. It’s up to Mitchell to keep playing at a high level to prove he belongs in the same discussion as the players ranked above him by the general managers.