One of the first big trades this NBA offseason came when the Utah Jazz traded Rudy Gobert. The Jazz traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for several first-round picks.
The trade broke up the duo of star guard Donovan Mitchell and center Gobert. The pair did well in the regular season but weren’t very successful in the playoffs.
In the Mitchell and Gobert era, the Jazz didn’t make it past the second round of the playoffs. The Jazz have not reached the NBA Western Conference Finals since the 2006-07 season.
Since the departure of head coach Quin Snyder, who alluded to major changes in his exit press conference, the Utah Jazz have done just that. They want to build around Donovan Mitchell and gather resources to do so.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski spoke about the matter and that the Jazz does not have any trades involving Mitchell, stating:
“Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik and the Utah front office want to continue to build around Donovan Mitchell.
“They certainly have some good veterans left, they have six-draft picks, first-round picks that they’ve accumulated in the last twenty-four hours that they can use on other deals and trades and try to reshape this list around them hereabouts.”
“Donovan Mitchell has four years left on contract, they’ve closed every team that’s been called to try to trade in for Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz are determined to move forward with him as the cornerstone.”
As combo guard, Mitchell offers the Jazz enough flexibility to build a competitor around them, and only time will tell how quickly that happens.
NBA Free Agency is starting slowly
NBA. While Brunson’s move to the New York Knicks was highly anticipated, only Gobert was involved in an unforeseen trade.
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However, Kevin Durant, who called for a trade out of the Brooklyn Nets, has kept interest high for the offseason. Despite Kyrie Irving going for his $36M player option, a trade that sends him to the LA Lakers is possible.
