The Utah Jazz have traded 3-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, rookie Ochai Agbaji, Colin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, and 2029, and two pick swaps in 2026 and 2028. This comes two months after Utah traded their other All-Star, Rudy Gobert, to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The New York Knicks were also in trade talks for Mitchell, but temporarily walked away on August 29, giving the Cavs the opportunity to pounce on him.
It’s obvious to me that the Jazz are rebuilding, but why would they want to rebuild? They have six consecutive playoff appearances, one of them lead to them getting the No. 1 seed in the West. Although they haven’t made it past the conference semis, trading away arguably their greatest duo since John Stockton and Karl Malone won’t help them reach the conference finals right away.
Mitchell makes Cleveland a force to be reckoned with in the East, along with two All-Stars in 2022 in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen and Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley. This team is very promising, but will it live up to the hype? We’ll see.
