I’m not going to lie this came out of nowhere to me. But I can sincerely say as a fan of a team that plays in the Eastern Conference, I hate this move.
So the news broke earlier today that Donovan Mitchell, who I thought was going to the Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, all of their picks, and co-ownership of the franchise, is instead going to the Cavaliers. Dang it. The fact that this trade was pulled off by the Cavs without giving up either of their three all-star, still-developing players is nothing short of miraculous. I am not exaggerating when I say that this changes the whole entire landscape of not only the East but the entire NBA. I mean, Donovan Mitchell was an All-NBA talent and still is, he was leading the Jazz to the playoffs every single year, and he now gets to play with Evan Mobley, Jarett Allen, and Darius freaking Garland. That starting lineup is disgusting.
On the other end of this, the Jazz got Lauri Markkenan, Collin Sexton, Ochai Ogbaji, and three firsts. That’s cool I guess but considering the fact that the president of basketball operations for the Knicks was probably ready to give away his kids for Donovan Mitchell, it seems weird that the Jazz ‘settled’ for this package. I mean even if the Cavaliers were the team that Donovan chose you could have at least tried to wrangle Jarrett Allen from them.
But I guess in summary I would just like to say this trade was surprising, upsetting as a Celtics fan, and downright disrespectful to all the Knicks pieces that the Jazz passed on for Lauri and Collin.
