So there it is. Donovan Mitchell has officially been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, ending his tenure with the Utah Jazz. Despite the fact that I have been on the trade Mitchell train for a while now, this is still very much a bittersweet moment for me.
When we drafted Mitchell in 2017, and he went on to have that spectacular rookie season (where he should have won rookie of the year) he became our beacon of hope. This guy had top ten player in the league potential, something the Jazz were not used to seeing. He seemed like he actually wanted to be in Utah, also something the Jazz are not necessarily used to seeing. Over the next several years he became the leader and face of the franchise, and I appreciate him for all that he did in a Jazz uniform. From a purely basketball perspective, this trade makes sense, but from a personal perspective, it is very sad to see him go.
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With all of that being said, where do both of these teams go from here? For the Jazz it's pretty simple. They tank. It's only a matter of time before Bojan and Conley are also traded, sending the team into a complete rebuild. This is what they had to do. After several mediocre seasons, a fresh start was needed. Now the team can look forward to tanking and making moves for the future. Hopefully they can land a top talent (preferably Wembanyama) in next year's draft, and begin to develop a new face of the franchise. The Jazz likely won't be relevant for another five years, but with Danny Ainge at the helm who knows, we saw how fast he fixed the situation in Boston.
The Cavs are in a very interesting position too. They were a very intriguing team last year, and they really didn't lose much in this trade. Collin Sexton didn't play last year, and Agbaji is a rookie. Markkanen was a contributor, but he was arguably not even a top five guy on the roster. They basically gave away nothing that helped the team work last year, and added a bonafide all-star. One thing to note is that they are going to have a pretty horrendous backcourt defense, but maybe the presence of Mobley and Allen on the interior will help with that. All in all, I think they are likely a lock to secure a top five seed in the East next year. This is also a team that fits Mitchell's timeline much better than the Jazz did, giving them several more years to contend and develop.
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And that's it. I shift to a Jazz team that now will sit at the bottom of the league for years to come, as I watch the players I have come to love find success on different teams. Depressing, I know. However, I asked for this, I am a pro-rebuild guy, so I'm buckling in. I'll just have to learn what it feels like to be bad every year, so any OKC fans that would like to help me out, let me know.
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