The Downbeat - Donovan Mitchell: All-Defensive Team Candidate?

It has been quite a busy weekend in the news, to say the least. We witnessed the emergence of ugly hate and evil that has grown like a mold in the dark corners of this country. It is my hope that we all take it upon ourselves to overcome our differences and unite against this repulsive infection that found its way into our society.

On a brighter note, there is much Jazz news to discuss, and that is what we are here for. We’ll be taking a look at the wonder boy Donovan Mitchell, stopping by the Sydney Kings Twitter page, and checking in on past Utah Jazz star JP Gibson.

Donovan Mitchell was featured in a video stream of NBA Live 18’s demo. During the stream, he revealed one of his goals:

Many rookies set high goals and expectations for themselves, but when Donovan says things like this, it seems to carry a bit more weight. Donovan has everything he needs to be able to reach this goal. He has the physical measurements. He has the motor to keep working and learning. He has the perfect defensive teacher in Quin Snyder, as well as the perfect defensive partner in Rudy Gobert. While it is hard to say at this point whether he is even a candidate for the First Team All-Defense this season, it isn’t hard to imagine a future with two Utah Jazz players on the First Team All-Defense.

Donovan teamed up with Tony Bradley to represent the Utah Jazz at the Panini NBA Rookie Photoshoot. I recommend a click through.

While on the topic. Donovan is one of the lone bright spots of the offseason, and a very bright spot at that. Let’s try to refrain from over-hyping him. He is, after all, a rookie who has yet to play any minutes in an NBA game. There is a lot to be excited for, but let’s give him a little time to learn the game and blossom.

Something else of note is how much the yellow collars of the new jerseys pop. The adjustments in the details may make a bigger difference than we realized in our first impressions. The uniforms are now more simplified and bold. These may just end up as some of the best jerseys in Utah Jazz history.

The Sydney Kings reporter caught up with Matthew Dellavedova to briefly discuss the preseason games involving Australian teams. The reporter asked Dellavedova what chance the Sydney Kings have of beating the Utah Jazz. His response?

JP Gibson received a nice gift from a former Jazzman.

Regardless of whatever you think the motive, Gordon Hayward brightened a suffering child’s day, and, really, that’s the only thing that matters.

The Jazz’ roster stands at 16, not including the Eric Griffin two-way contract. At least one player will get the boot after training camp. We will cover this in greater detail, but drawing from your initial gut feelings, which of these players will not be on the roster come October?