Utah Jazz Trade Guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers

[NYRaider]

On 9/3/2022 at 7:36 AM, J-ALL-DAY said:

Those picks would have been much more valuable and then I would have agreed that the Jazz did very well and may have even won the trade without getting back the best player in the deal. That's not the case with this deal. 

Predicting where Cleveland will be in 3/5/7 years is impossible.

[THE DUKE]

The problem with the Knicks is that their management and head coach are morons.  If the expansion rumors are true I hope Obi is unprotected and goes to Vegas or Seattle.

[FGK]

On 9/10/2022 at 2:32 AM, NYRaider said:

Predicting where Cleveland will be in 3/5/7 years is impossible.

I mean. They've now got four different all-star caliber players under the age of 26, all under contract for three years or more. So I'd say it's quite easy to say that 3 year pick at the minimum will not be great. After that it gets harder, but it still seems like it would take an utter disaster for them to not be really good in Mobley/Garland/Allen's late 20's. Like, this isn't a team of 30+ year old stars buying a rental to max out their window. This is a young, growing team adding another piece as they are entering what should be a pretty long contention window.

[NYRaider]

10 minutes ago, FGK said:

I mean. They've now got four different all-star caliber players under the age of 26, all under contract for three years or more. So I'd say it's quite easy to say that 3 year pick at the minimum will not be great. After that it gets harder, but it still seems like it would take an utter disaster for them to not be really good in Mobley/Garland/Allen's late 20's. Like, this isn't a team of 30+ year old stars buying a rental to max out their window. This is a young, growing team adding another piece as they are entering what should be a pretty long contention window.

With the way the new CBA is set up Donovan will basically have to enter free agency in three years. How many times have we seen guys demand trades out of small markets as well? The Jazz were the best team in the league a year ago and blew it up, things can change quickly. 

[FGK]

21 hours ago, NYRaider said:

With the way the new CBA is set up Donovan will basically have to enter free agency in three years. How many times have we seen guys demand trades out of small markets as well? The Jazz were the best team in the league a year ago and blew it up, things can change quickly. 

Sure. But you included a pick in three years as part of the "no way to know" package. Mitchell has to hit FA in three years. But his third year is still with the team. Unless they flip him for something else to compete. Utah is bottoming out INTENTIONALLY. Like, they could've held onto Ruby and Mitchell and continued to be a top 6-ish regular season team in the West who got blown up in the playoffs. The Cavs have four young stars and every impetus to continue competing for the whole window these picks are going out. A comparison to Utah who is choosing to blow it up makes no sense. Neither would a comparison to like, the Lakers, whose most important players was mid-30's when they made the AD trade. The entire core is 25 and younger for the Cavs. Is there a small chance of like, two different stars develop constant lingering injury issues? Always, sure. But I think looking at the Knicks core and future assets, and looking at the Cavs core and future assets, there is a STRONG possibility that 2025-2029 Knicks picks would've been more valuable assets.

[NYRaider]

3 hours ago, FGK said:

Sure. But you included a pick in three years as part of the "no way to know" package. Mitchell has to hit FA in three years. But his third year is still with the team. Unless they flip him for something else to compete. Utah is bottoming out INTENTIONALLY. Like, they could've held onto Ruby and Mitchell and continued to be a top 6-ish regular season team in the West who got blown up in the playoffs. The Cavs have four young stars and every impetus to continue competing for the whole window these picks are going out. A comparison to Utah who is choosing to blow it up makes no sense. Neither would a comparison to like, the Lakers, whose most important players was mid-30's when they made the AD trade. The entire core is 25 and younger for the Cavs. Is there a small chance of like, two different stars develop constant lingering injury issues? Always, sure. But I think looking at the Knicks core and future assets, and looking at the Cavs core and future assets, there is a STRONG possibility that 2025-2029 Knicks picks would've been more valuable assets.

Only time will tell but I will be excited to see how your team plays. I was already a huge fan of Garland/Mobley and Donovan is my favorite player so I'll be rooting for you guys for as long as he's on the team since the Jazz will be bad for the foreseeable future. It'd be awesome to see Donovan get a ring, especially before Gobert, lol. 

You guys are going to absolutely love Donovan and I think that he's going to thrive playing alongside Garland and with Mobley. 

Who do you think will start at the 3?

[FGK]

7 hours ago, NYRaider said:

Only time will tell but I will be excited to see how your team plays. I was already a huge fan of Garland/Mobley and Donovan is my favorite player so I'll be rooting for you guys for as long as he's on the team since the Jazz will be bad for the foreseeable future. It'd be awesome to see Donovan get a ring, especially before Gobert, lol. 

You guys are going to absolutely love Donovan and I think that he's going to thrive playing alongside Garland and with Mobley. 

Who do you think will start at the 3?

It will depend on whether his shot improved over the off-season, but I think Okoro is the clear favorite. He's very good defensively, so he can defend the best 1-3 on the opposition. He's low usage rate which will help with the heavy usage Garland/Mitchell tandem. It really boils down to whether he can hit corner 3's. If he can, Mobley's mid-range game is solid and Garland/Mitchell can both nail 3's, and if you've got a Mobley/Allen/Okoro team on defense that can actually space and score on offense? That's legit ECF type potential. I THINK from hearing summer reports and from their including Agbaji in this deal that the Cavs think Okoro is ready to be the starting 3. But who knows. They could still have a move brewing to turn somebody like Levert or Love into a true 3 and D wing for all I know.

[NYRaider]

 

[BetterCallSaul]

On 9/14/2022 at 11:53 PM, NYRaider said:

 

Ehhh I think the Knicks over the next 3 years will change his mind. They’re gonna be abysmal for a minute. 

[NYRaider]

6 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Ehhh I think the Knicks over the next 3 years will change his mind. They’re gonna be abysmal for a minute. 

The Knicks, Nets, Lakers, Clippers, and Heat will all likely have a max slot for him when he's eligible to opt out.

[brownie man]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

The Knicks, Nets, Lakers, Clippers, and Heat will all likely have a max slot for him when he's eligible to opt out.

Bet you he stays

Cavs too loaded 

none of those roster will be close to the Cavs in 3 years

[BetterCallSaul]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

The Knicks, Nets, Lakers, Clippers, and Heat will all likely have a max slot for him when he's eligible to opt out.

Yeah, but I'm assuming the Cavs will be competing for championships whereas the Knicks will still be bleh, unless the lottery really helps them out.

[seminoles1]

13 minutes ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Yeah, but I'm assuming the Cavs will be competing for championships whereas the Knicks will still be bleh, unless the lottery really helps them out.

Some people care more about location. Mitchell might really want to just play for the Knicks. Minds can change obviously and no one knows for sure what he's thinking, but stars leave good rosters for worse because of location, the front office, touches, etc. every once in a while.

[NYRaider]

On 9/16/2022 at 11:14 AM, seminoles1 said:

Some people care more about location. Mitchell might really want to just play for the Knicks. Minds can change obviously and no one knows for sure what he's thinking, but stars leave good rosters for worse because of location, the front office, touches, etc. every once in a while.

Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum both have player options after the 24/25 season with guys like Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, and Ben Simmons all slated to hit free agency as well. After the 25/26 season other guys like SGA, Ayton, and Bam are all set to hit free agency as well. 

The two teams that catch my eye in all of this are the Clippers and Heat. The Clippers will have their brand new stadium and basically an empty slate in terms of roster/salary with Kawhi/George both coming off of their books. I could see Balmer going all in to sell Donovan and another star player on the idea of being the guys in LA going forward. Miami will be getting out from under the Jimmy Butler contract and could sell two stars on the potential idea of playing with Bam to form the new Big 3 in Miami. 

FWIW Donovan, Tatum, and Bam all spent a bunch of time together during the off-season and most Jazz people thought that Donovan preferred to land in Miami but they just didn't have the assets to realistically get a deal done. 

Could he stay in Cleveland? Absolutely. But the Cavaliers are basically all in with their current group as they have the majority of their cap space invested into 4 players for the foreseeable future, aren't a free agent destination (don't have the $ to spend anyways), and essentially have 0 draft assets or young prospects that they're able to trade. So if things don't work out for their current group I just don't see anyway that they'd be able to realistically make massive improvements around them to push fully into contention. If they're not a real contender over the next three seasons does Donovan resign with the Cavaliers or does he bolt for a larger market where he'd have the chance to team up with one, possibly two other All-Stars of his choice? 

[Sllim Pickens]

5 hours ago, NYRaider said:

Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum both have player options after the 24/25 season with guys like Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, and Ben Simmons all slated to hit free agency as well. After the 25/26 season other guys like SGA, Ayton, and Bam are all set to hit free agency as well. 

The two teams that catch my eye in all of this are the Clippers and Heat. The Clippers will have their brand new stadium and basically an empty slate in terms of roster/salary with Kawhi/George both coming off of their books. I could see Balmer going all in to sell Donovan and another star player on the idea of being the guys in LA going forward. Miami will be getting out from under the Jimmy Butler contract and could sell two stars on the potential idea of playing with Bam to form the new Big 3 in Miami. 

FWIW Donovan, Tatum, and Bam all spent a bunch of time together during the off-season and most Jazz people thought that Donovan preferred to land in Miami but they just didn't have the assets to realistically get a deal done. 

Could he stay in Cleveland? Absolutely. But the Cavaliers are basically all in with their current group as they have the majority of their cap space invested into 4 players for the foreseeable future, aren't a free agent destination (don't have the $ to spend anyways), and essentially have 0 draft assets or young prospects that they're able to trade. So if things don't work out for their current group I just don't see anyway that they'd be able to realistically make massive improvements around them to push fully into contention. If they're not a real contender over the next three seasons does Donovan resign with the Cavaliers or does he bolt for a larger market where he'd have the chance to team up with one, possibly two other All-Stars of his choice? 

The one thing I have learned is to not put much stock into what might happen 3 or 4 years from now.  Things change so much.  Some players improve, others don't but there is always something that happens to change what is expected.  Nobody saw Harden in Brooklyn and then again moved to Philly two years before it happened.  Same with Utah blowing it up and other things of that nature.  The Cavs are in a tight spot but good GMs can be crafty and get things done.