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It’s official: the Utah Jazz are embracing the tank for the 2022-2023 NBA season. Donovan Mitchell has been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Donovan Mitchell in a trade, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2022
Full trade: Utah is trading Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland for Lauri Markkanen, Ochair Agbaji, Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2022
It appears the haul was slightly smaller than the one for Rudy Gobert in terms of picks, but with higher upside players such as Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton alongside 2022 #14 draft pick Ochai Agbaji in the mix.
Cleveland is sending its three unprotected picks to Utah in 2025, 2027 and 2029 and picks swaps in 2026 and 2028, sources tell ESPN. Along with the Rudy Gobert trade with Minnesota, Utah has gathered 13 unprotected or lightly protected picks through 2029.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2022
With the Knicks playing hardball and the extension of RJ Barrett making things trickier, it seems that Danny Ainge and co. had enough and took Cleveland’s offer. Just a reminder of all of the assets that were accrued this offseason with the trade of the Jazz’s biggest stars:
as of the time of this tweet, heres what Utah got for Donovan Mitchell + Gobert:
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 1, 2022
• Malik Beasley
• THT
• Stanley Johnson
• Bolmaro
• Walker Kessler
• Vanderbilt
• Markkanen
• Agbaji
• Sexton
• '23 1RD
• '25 1RD x2
• '26 swap x2
• '27 1RD x2
• '28 swap
• '29 1RD x2
While this may make Utah’s immediate future a lower-win team, it’s clear that Danny Ainge, Justin Zanik, and Ryan Smith have their eyes on the biggest prize: building a true championship-contending team.
As far as Donovan Mitchell, this is obviously not the destination he had hoped for (either in New York or Miami) so there has to be some disappointment, but he is going to a fantastic situation in Cleveland. They have a young core of all-stars that will compete for years now with a backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. That is as fun as any backcourt in the league. Combine that with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley? Now you have a core that will be competitive for a long time. Mitchell could have such a great time in Cleveland, he may decide to stay there long term.
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) September 1, 2022
Finally, let’s take a chance to send a fond farewell to trade negotiations with Leon Rose and the New York Knicks. You didn’t want to include Grimes or the unprotected picks Ainge asked for. Hopefully that works out for you, although it may work out like it has the last 20 years. I guess we’ll see. As for the Jazz, they’ll be enjoying picks from Cleveland for a long while.
What an impressive offseason for the Jazz.
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