One (or both) of Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert – G & C, Utah Jazz
Apparently, this new Netflix show “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” is a rollickingly good time… and can eradicate brain cells faster than you can say “The Bachelor.” Nevertheless, its premise isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen for a show hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey.
The duo encourages couples to their love to the test while having encounters with other potential matches. By the end, you’re supposed to conclude whether you want to stay with your partner or move on to another. Or just move on to nothing, as an escape is the most valuable option of all.
Consider this my official pitch to TNT or Netflix or whoever: we need this, but with NBA duos. Think of the drama we could stir up. The stories we could tell. The hatred we would uncover. This is lightning in a bottle, folks. And I vote we cast the premiere today. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, step right up.
The Jazz’s dynamic duo has beef. No matter how many times they say they don’t, their sub-comments – the verbal equivalent of subtweets – tell a different story. Gobert has been critical of the team, saying they lack winning habits; Mitchell (and Quin Snyder, for what it’s worth) didn’t appreciate his vocality. The vibe has been pretty clearly pushing this core toward a divorce; it’s just a matter of who’s the one to go.
If the Jazz have any sense, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep Mitchell. They drafted him to be their franchise player and he’s proven that he can fit that bill. Gobert is expensive, but not immovable if the team receiving him has cap space. Plus, plenty of teams would likely clamor for the opportunity to add a perennial Defensive Player of the Year/All-NBA center. Those don’t necessarily grow on trees.
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But Mitchell’s market is undoubtedly more vast – on a recent episode of Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Post” podcast, Lowe and Tim MacMahon discussed Utah’s aforementioned internal strife, and MacMahon was as adamant as I’ve ever heard anyone be when it came to whether or not Mitchell was long for Utah. In short, the answer was “no way in hell” Mitchell stays with the Jazz for the duration of his career, no matter how eager they are to build a title contender around him.
Much like the next player on our list, they’ve had a good bit of time to do precisely that, and they’ve come up short. After a recent collapse against the Los Angeles Clippers, Mitchell summed it up concisely: “I don’t know what to say. This is the same shit. This is the same thing as last year.”
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He’s reaching the point due to his budding stardom where he can no longer afford to experience the same thing as last year too many times over in the same market. It’s an open secret that the New York Knicks are targeting him, despite a lack of clarity on what exactly they’d be able to give up in exchange. But no matter the move, it’s time for the Jazz to face their music and reconfigure their future – without one of their bickering stars.
