Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly touched base with the Utah Jazz recently on a Donovan Mitchell trade. However, things must not have gotten much beyond that, as they reportedly pulled out of the Mitchell sweepstakes last week.
That ended up not being the case, as they negotiated behind the scenes without any leaks. That turned out to be the way to go as things became quite public in talks between the Jazz and New York Knicks and a deal didn’t get done.
For the Cavaliers, this trade is a home run. They were already ascending the Eastern Conference standings, as the 44 wins they had last season was the most without LeBron James on the team since 1997-98. Heading in the right direction with an already formidable core, Mitchell only enhances that.
He joins a group that already includes All-Stars in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen with budding star Evan Mobley. Add in more role players in Caris LeVert, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love, Robin Lopez, Raul Neto and eventually Ricky Rubio and Cleveland is in business.
Another win for them in this deal is that they kept Isaac Okoro, whose lack of offense will be compensated for even more now; he just has to focus on becoming the best defender that he can.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Cleveland Cavaliers & Utah Jazz Updates
Flipping Collin Sexton as part of this deal should also be seen as a win as negotiations with him seemed to be going nowhere. Lauri Markkanen made for an awkward fit as J.B. Bickerstaff was starting three big men; removing him from the lineup helps them balance things out. Ochai Agbaji was a solid prospect with the 14th overall pick, but the Cavaliers have plenty of depth on the wings to rely on.
The only risk to this deal, keeping it from being an A+ for Cleveland, is that their picks are far out in the future. There is always a little bit of risk involved in trading first-rounders and Cleveland not being on Mitchell’s list of preferred landing spots certainly leaves the chance of him departing when his contract is up.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Cleveland Cavaliers & Utah Jazz Updates
But, that isn’t anything the Cavaliers are worried about right now. They won this trade in a landslide and are one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference.
