Utah Jazz Receive 'A' Re-Grade for Blockbuster Donovan Mitchell Trade

How did the Utah Jazz fare in their most recent big-time trade?

Jan 10, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith meet after the game at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports / Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

While the wins have yet to come on the board for the Utah Jazz through two seasons of their rebuild, this new era is off to a fierce start, and it's largely thanks to the massive moves that came to form in the offseason of 2022.

While one of those moves in the Rudy Gobert trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves positions the Jazz extremely well in the draft for the next half-decade, the bigger of the bunch may be Utah's deal to send Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In what was a tough trigger to pull at the time, it was a trade that allowed the Jazz to get their hands on not just three first-round picks and two first-round swaps, but also the pickups of Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji (who soon turned into Isaiah Collier), and of course, Lauri Markkanen. Ultimately, it effectively placed Utah in an extremely ideal spot for their future aspirations, but looks the part of one of the best trades in recent NBA history as well.

In Bleacher Report's latest re-grade of the biggest and latest blockbusters around the league, the Jazz received an enlightening "A" grade for their return, where writer Dan Favale detailed the overwhelming positives of the deal, but also some potential concerns moving forward:

"Utah could not have hoped for a better return on Mitchell when factoring in how well Sexton has played and, most critically, Markkanen's star ascent... But Utah may also be a victim of underestimation. It has outperformed early-season expectations each of the past two years. That necessitated midseason selloffs and shutdowns—none of which resulted in them securing higher than a No. 9 pick. This leaves the Jazz in a funky position, ostensibly too good to tank without resorting to extremes yet not nearly ready enough to make noise in the Western Conference. Their next re-grade will hinge on what they do next."

- Dan Favale, Bleacher Report

Looking back, considering the pending contract implications the Jazz had with Donovan Mitchell and the chance of losing out on their star guard for nothing, this was a home run of a deal. Utah not only has a bundle of future assets to use at their disposal but also got a couple of impactful starting contributors as well.

However, the issue Favale outlines is one that's plagued the Jazz for the past couple of seasons: Utah has too many good players to tank, yet not in the position to truly compete-- especially in the Western Conference. It puts the front office in the middle of a crossroads, essentially sitting in a wait-and-see mode until a big star becomes available for trade, or the young talent finally develops into their ceiling.

The Mitchell trade is a ten-out-of-ten move in a vacuum, but the true success of this franchise leans upon what comes next. If the Jazz can manage their assets wisely to bring in a co-star to assist Markkanen, this trade will begin to look even better with time.

Still, without that anticipated big move coming to form just yet, Utah will have to bank on drafting and developing to get this roster where it needs to be-- even with one of the best NBA trades in recent memory.

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