What does Donovan Mitchell's trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers mean for the Cavaliers' chances of contending in the Eastern Conference?
In a surprising outcome to the summer-long question of whether the Utah Jazz might trade Mitchell, he ended up going not to his hometown New York Knicks but to join an up-and-coming Cleveland team that hasn't reached the playoffs since LeBron James' departure in 2018.
A 44-38 season led by two All-Stars under age 25 (Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland), plus Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley, put the Cavaliers in position to take a bold swing. Mitchell, a three-time All-Star who is just entering his prime (he'll turn 26 next week) certainly qualifies.
On the other side, the Utah Jazz's decision to trade Mitchell after moving fellow All-Star Rudy Gobert at the start of the offseason confirms a rebuilding period in Salt Lake City in the wake of six consecutive playoff appearances.
Utah will start the journey with an incredible eight extra first-round picks -- seven of them are unprotected -- plus three swaps and two players drafted in this year's first round.
How good was the return for Mitchell? Let's break things down from both perspectives.
The deal
Cleveland Cavaliers get:
Donovan Mitchell
Utah Jazz get:
Ochai Agbaji
Collin Sexton (via sign-and-trade)
Lauri Markkanen
Unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029
First-round swap rights in 2026 and 2028
Cleveland Cavaliers
In a sense, this trade is more reminiscent of NFL team-building. Mobley's immediate success as the No. 3 overall pick in last year's draft gave the Cavaliers the look of a team with a star quarterback on a rookie contract, eager to take advantage of that spending power to accumulate talent before he gets more expensive.