Donovan Mitchell is no longer a member of the Utah Jazz. After an entire offseason of wondering whether or not Mitchell would join Rudy Gobert in getting a move out of Utah, the Cleveland Cavaliers swooped in on Thursday afternoon and pulled off a deal to bring Mitchell to the Eastern Conference.
The future for the Cavs looks awfully bright — Mitchell and Darius Garland immediately become one of the best offensive backcourt duos in all of basketball, and while they have their defensive shortcomings, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are both quite good at cleaning up messes at the rim. But before Mitchell starts life in northeast Ohio, the All-Star guard took a moment on Friday night to thank Utah and former head coach Quin Snyder on his Instagram account.
“Thank you for the memories and the incredible times… you guys watched me grow up on and off the floor… Coach Quin thank you for giving me the opportunity and trusting me to lead this team for the past 5 years
Love,” Mitchell wrote in the caption.
The Jazz selected Mitchell with the No. 13 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft out of Louisville. Almost immediately, Mitchell established himself as the team’s most dangerous player on the offensive end of the floor, as he averaged 23.9 points per game across the entirety of his tenure with the team.