The Utah Jazz made the biggest trade of the offseason thus far over the first weekend of July when they dealt Rudy Gobert to Minnesota for a package that was headlined by four first round picks (three unprotected) and a pick swap going back to Utah.
That deal seemed to signal that the Jazz might be ready to blow it up completely and begin angling for the future, but for the past two weeks, the reporting from around the league had presented it as a consensus that Utah wanted to build around Donovan Mitchell and that the Jazz weren’t interested in trading their All-Star guard. However, a the offseason has worn on and the Jazz have continued to look at their current situation and the future, they’ve softened their stance on Mitchell trades at least a little bit, and, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, are willing to at least listen to trade offers for the All-Star.
After previously shutting down inquiries on moving All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, rival teams say the Utah Jazz are showing a willingness to listen on possible trade scenarios, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2022
Jazz general manager Justin Zanik told reporters in a recent interview, “Change is inevitable in the NBA…Things evolve in the NBA, so I couldn’t sit here and say anybody is [untouchable]…There’s no intent there [to trade Mitchell] at all.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2022
One would think the Jazz would be asking for something fairly similar to the Gobert package in return for Mitchell, with a heavy emphasis on draft picks and young players. Whether there’s a team out there willing to meet that price will be something to watch for in the coming weeks and months, but it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Utah would take this approach. For Danny Ainge and the front office, it’d be rather absurd to refuse to at least engage in conversations after making such a future-facing move with the Gobert trade. Mitchell is under contract at least through 2025, with a player option for the 2025-26 season worth $37 million.
A young star locked in on a long-term deal doesn’t often come available and as such the price will be steep, but teams like Miami, who have long coveted a guard like Mitchell, will surely put what they can on the table and see if it’s enough to get Ainge and the Jazz to bite. What makes this more interesting is some of the teams with interest in Mitchell will surely overlap with those pursuing Kevin Durant (with Miami at the very top of that list) and as such it could push the Nets into re-engaging a bit more earnestly on KD trades after seemingly putting that on the backburner until closer to the season with offers not coming in they’d hoped for — or potentially leading to a three-team deal involving both Durant and Mitchell on the move.