Evaluating Jazz-Cavaliers Trade Involving Donovan Mitchell

On Thursday afternoon, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji and a handful of draft picks over the next several years.

While it was not necessarily shocking to see the Utah Jazz trade All-Star Donovan Mitchell on Thursday, it may have come as a shock to many to see him dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers, especially given that the New York Knicks had engaged in trade conversations with the Jazz for weeks.

In a deal that definitely shakes thing up even more in the Eastern Conference, the Jazz agreed to trade Mitchell to the Cavaliers in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, and two pick swaps in 2026 and 2028.

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

A lot happened over the last couple of weeks in trade discussions surrounding Mitchell, but in the end, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the ones that walk away with the All-Star guard in a move that suddenly makes them a true contender in the Eastern Conference.

Not only does Cleveland have a 25-year-old All-Star guard in Donovan Mitchell now, but they have a 22-year-old All-Star guard in Darius Garland, a 24-year-old All-Star center in Jarrett Allen and a 21-year-old future multi-time All-Star big man in Evan Mobley.

Mitchell is an upgrade from Sexton for the Cavaliers and while losing Markkanen may hurt their depth out on the perimeter and at the power forward position, Cleveland still has Caris LeVert and Dean Wade, two players they believe will make an immediate impact off-the-bench this upcoming year.

What this trade came down to from Cleveland’s end of things is that opportunities like this do not always present themselves to teams like the Cavaliers. Compared to the likes of the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a small-market team that cannot go out every year and acquire or trade away star players.

When this opportunity presented itself to the Cavaliers, President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman, saw a path in which they could not only acquire an All-Star, but create an All-Star “core-four” consisting of Mitchell, Garland, Allen and Mobley. All four of these guys are young and most importantly, they are all under contract together through at least the 2024-25 season.

Cleveland, a young team that went 44-38 last season and found themselves on the cusp of being a playoff threat are now very much in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference and could very well be a team poised to make a deep playoff push for the next few seasons given their youth, depth and defensive abilities.

This team is only going to get better as they gain more playing experience and with experienced veterans like Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love and Robin Lopez on this roster, there are no limits to what the Cavaliers can achieve over the next few years in the Eastern Conference.

On the other side of things, the Utah Jazz did what they needed to do given that they were staring down a massive rebuild after Quin Snyder stepped down as the head coach this offseason and after they dealt All-Star center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Jazz are also a small-market team like the Cavaliers and need to covet their stars, but the opportunity to start over while they could and acquire a ton of draft this offseason was too much to pass up on, especially given the changes this organization had in their front-office and the fact that a generational talent could be the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Hitting the “restart button” right now gives Utah a big opportunity to end up with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, which they would undoubtedly use, like everyone else in the league, on French prospect Victor Wembanyama.

A multidimensional talent that can truly play anywhere on the court, stands 7-foot-2 with a 7-9 wingspan and is already an elite-level two-way threat at 18-years-old, Wenbanyama is already being named the undisputed No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The Jazz are a rebuilding team that would love to get their hands on him and by starting their rebuild right now, Utah has a chance to end up with this No. 1 overall pick.

Looking at what Utah did as a whole this offseason, they were able to move Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Jarred Vanderbilt, Talen Horton-Tucker, Stanley Johnson, Malik Beasley, Leandro Bolmaro, Ochai Agbaji, Walker Kessler, seven first-round picks and three first-round picks swaps.

That is an insane amount of talent and young assets for the Jazz to bring in at the start of their rebuild and they may not be done moving talent. Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley are all veteran players who will be coveted around the league heading towards the trade deadline this upcoming season, giving the Jazz more chances to add young players and draft picks.

Controlling the NBA Draft and the young prospects entering this league over the next several years seems to be the course of action by the Jazz front-office right now, which is why their rebuilding process is off to a good start. Trading Rudy Gogbert and Donovan Mitchell does not seem like a smart move in terms of trying to win, but looking at the big picture and what this organization could look like in 2030, the Jazz are in good shape.