Imagining the Utah Jazz without Donovan Mitchell

Up until Wednesday night, it was only in your worst nightmare that you had to fathom thinking of the Utah Jazz without their star rookie Donovan Mitchell. After Mitchell was ruled out of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to toe soreness, the nightmares became a terrible reality.

The Jazz looked as bad and helpless as we all imagined they would without ROY-candidate Donovan Mitchell, and put forth one of the worst performances of the entire season. Granted, the Jazz were on the end of a brutal six-game road trip, and still in the thick of an extremely difficult December schedule. But it’s incredible how reliant they have become on a 21-year-old rookie.

The Jazz scored nine points in the first quarter in OKC. They shot 4-18 in the quarter, and nearly had as many turnovers (7) at they did points. They shot 0-9 from three in the opening quarter alone. Just like that, the game was over before it had barely even begun.

We got a glimpse of what life would be like sans Donovan Mitchell, and it was terrifying. Now imagine how sad this season would be if the Jazz had not drafted up and selected Donovan Mitchell in the draft. Go ahead and stop yourself from thinking about it now, we don’t want any of you to cry while your at work, school, home, etc.

We had to watch one game without Donovan Mitchell, and that is already one too many.

ICYMI, Carlos Boozer announced his retirement from basketball earlier this week. Several tribute videos and highlights have surfaced over the last couple of days, and this one is one of my favorites. Also: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZEEERR!!

I won’t pretend like it didn’t happen. Derrick Favors got dunked on last night.

In an interesting sequence of events, former Jazz man Enes Kanter is wanted for a four-year prison sentence in Turkey. ESPN released an article providing some details of the situation, including Kanter’s nonchalant attitude and him not worrying about the situation.

Jazz fans may not have the highest feelings of regard for Kanter, but we’re all hoping for the best in this situation and that everything works itself out.

The Players’ Tribune released a video showing the first-hand details of Isaiah Thomas’ trade from the Boston Celtics this off-season. The video shows the harsh realities of the game of basketball, and portrays the “loyalty” issue from the aspect of a heartbroken player fresh off a ruthless trade.

This is a good watch for any NBA fan, and may open some eyes to what players go through when being suddenly and unexpectedly traded.