The spotlights of the NBA summer market have always been on Kevin Durant. The superstar did not seem happy with the management of the Brooklyn Nets and with the instability of recent seasons and asked for the transfer. Whether it's because he reconciled with Steve Nash and his team, because of the refusal of franchise owner Joe Tsai or because of the impossibility of completing a transfer that would have historical dimensions, Durant will continue in New York. The one who will not go to New York is the other protagonist of the summer, who was also looking for a way out and found it unexpectedly. Donovan Mitchell, star of the Utah Jazz, is being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Knicks fans, who dreamed of acquiring him, are pulling their hair out at yet another failure of the franchise in the market.
As ESPN journalist Adrian Wojnarowski announced Thursday, Mitchell will come to Cleveland in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first rounds (2025, 2027 and 2029) and two pick swaps (2026 and 2028). Sexton's move to Utah will take place on a "sign and trade" basis, and he will be guaranteed a four-year contract worth $72 million with the Jazz. This takes the Cavaliers to a big leap in quality in the Eastern Conference and indicates that Utah has opted, after letting go of Rudy Gobert two months ago, to enter a period of total reconstruction.
The city of Cleveland will have an All-East candidate this year. Last season they began as one of the revelations and ended up getting into the play-in with a record of 44-38, although they did not enter the playoffs. Now, in addition to all the young people who made this franchise one of the most attractive in the NBA, they have a superstar who is still reaching the optimum age (he will turn 26 next week) and who always takes a step forward in the postseason. front and improves its performance.
The Cavs' regular quintet will consist of Darius Garland at point guard, Mitchell at shooting guard, Caris LeVert at forward, Evan Mobley at power forward and Jarrett Allen at center. Garland will be able to relieve the former Jazz player of weight in the organization of the game, while Spida will be key to maintaining the scoring flow that the team was losing without Garland on court (10.6 points less per 100 possessions, according to advanced statistics from the NBA).
Mobley, second in the Rookie of the Year voting, has special talent at both ends of the floor and Allen is an elite rim protector. The two will have in Mitchell, finally, an outside player with which to play an effective pick and roll and thus multiply the variants in attack. In addition, they have a solid rotation made up of Kevin Love, Isaak Okoro, Cedi Osman, Dean Wade or Ricky Rubio, who was already a teammate of Mitchell in Utah.
The Jazz, meanwhile, enter a stage of deep reconstruction. They are the current franchise that has been in the playoffs for the most consecutive years (six), but in that time they have not been able to get past the second round. In addition, the poor relationship between Mitchell and Gobert, his two pillars, made this summer the ideal time to start that process. As they seek a structural change, they preferred to get many rounds of the draft instead of players in the trades. That's how it was: they have in their power 13 elections until 2029, in addition to the two already executed in this edition.
However, they have also kept interesting pieces so that the team does not completely fall apart. Sexton, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, has consistently shown that he's a point guard who can go above 20 points a game with ease. He's still very young and, although in Cleveland they had him as a toxic and problematic person in the locker room, he has formed a good couple with Garland.
On the other hand, Markkanen needs to regain the confidence he had in his early years with the Bulls. In Cleveland he was forced to play out of the spot many times, at small forward, because of how indisputable Mobley and Allen were on the inside. The market is not yet closed on the Jazz, who plan to continue releasing veteran players like Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic or Jordan Clarkson.
The movement seems reasonable for the interests of the Cavaliers, who believe that it is time to bet heavily and take another step forward at a competitive level; and the Jazz, who needed to rebuild their foundations and will have the draft picks they need to do so. Those who are portrayed again in this market are the New York Knicks, who add a new failure in the attempt to recruit a great star to help the franchise return to the top (aggravated by Donovan Mitchell's sentimental link with New York, where he was born).
According to Wojnarowski, the Knicks offered a package in July that included RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson and three unprotected first rounders. It has not been enough. The only positive for New Yorkers is that they can keep Barrett, a young rising star who has the potential to be among the biggest names in the league for years to come (he already averaged 20 points per game last season, his third in the NBA). ). In Cleveland they are excited, in Utah they have solved a soap opera and while, in New York, they are pulling their hair out.
