Recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers popped up as surprise contenders in the Donovan Mitchell sweepstakes.
Though there were a couple reports indicating the team’s interest, the buzz seemingly ended about as quickly as it started. On Friday, it was reported that the Cavs removed themselves from the race.
Now, it has become abundantly clear why. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Cavs told the Utah Jazz some key information about the trade availability of Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
“The Cavs can offer three unprotected firsts,” Windhorst said. “They’re not going to give Evan Mobley or Darius Garland. I would be surprised if they would give Jarrett Allen. In fact, I’ll just tell you I heard the Cavs said Jarrett Allen’s not available. That those three guys (Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley) I heard they told the Jazz are not available.”
Though the report itself is not all that surprising, it is still great to see that the Cavs front office has such clear priorities when it comes to the stars that are already suiting up in Cleveland.
After all, Allen and Garland were both named All-Stars last season. Allen established himself as one of the best two-way bigs in the league. He averaged 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
Meanwhile, Garland played like one of the best young guards in the league last season, averaging 21.7 points, 8.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He shot 46.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from deep.
As for Mobley, he may end up being the best of the bunch when it’s all said and done. With his combination of size and skill, the sky is the limit for him. A development team has been working with Mobley and using Kevin Durant as a study sample.
On top of that, there is also a chance that the Cavs will end up bringing back a player who is similar to Mitchell in some ways. If the Cavs do indeed add Collin Sexton to the mix again, they’ll have an explosive guard who has produced at a high level in the past.
Sexton is absolutely planning on having a comeback season in the 2022-23 campaign, and Cavs fans should be quite excited about that possibility.
In the end, it looks like the Cavs were simply doing their due diligence when it came to Mitchell. They didn’t seem all that determined to actually get a deal done, and with the talent that is already in the building, they didn’t have to be.
