Donovan Mitchell likely not re-signing with the Cavs is GREAT for the Utah Jazz!

Recently on the Hoop Collective Podcast, Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps shared what they thought about Donovan Mitchell and whether he will re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s a tough scenario right now for the Cleveland Cavaliers that seems awfully familiar to the situation the Utah Jazz were in just a year ago. And... we know how that ended up.

This is now a pretty precarious situation for the Cavs. Yes, they have Donovan Mitchell for th next two seasons, but last year ended up really disappointing. Donovan Mitchell put up a dud of a performance in the playoffs and now the clock is already ticking. What’s worse is that the Cavs don’t even start giving picks to the Jazz for Mitchell trade until 2025. From that point on the Jazz have unprotected Cleveland Cavaliers picks in 2025, 2027, and 2029. On top of that, the Jazz have swaps with the Cavs in 2026, and 2028. For the Cavs that’s an ultra YIKES of a situation.

Now, Cleveland may be able to salvage this and recoup some of their losses. Maybe they can find some sort of trade partner willing to take on a star rental. That is going to be very hard to find. Maybe someone like Miami can pivot from Damian Lillard and go for Donovan Mitchell for cheaper. Don’t forget, Miami was one of the other teams that Mitchell was interested in being traded to. But even in a scenario like that, the haul the Cavs get won’t be the same as what the Jazz got in the original trade.

What a time to be a Jazz fan, right? Just think, it wasn’t even until September last year that the Mitchell trade happen. Can anyone forget the discussions on leverage with the New York Knicks?

I can’t stop smiling!