The Cleveland Cavaliers made a major splash on Thursday, as they acquired three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz.
Cleveland traded away guard Collin Sexton, forward Lauri Markkanen, 2022 first-round pick Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps for Mitchell.
The move is an exciting one for the Cavs organization, as they are looking to get back to the playoffs in the 2022-23 season. Cavs forward Kevin Love and guard Darius Garland were both excited about the news that Mitchell would be joining their team.
🕷🕷🕷
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) September 1, 2022
10 and 🕷
— Darius Garland (@dariusgarland22) September 1, 2022
Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the NBA, and he should fit in well alongside Garland in the Cavs’ backcourt. After struggling to bring back Sexton, who was a restricted free agent this offseason, the Cavs decided to swap him to bring in a superior player in Mitchell.
Obviously, the draft capital Cleveland sacrificed is important, but Mitchell should help Cleveland get back into the postseason in the 2022-23 campaign. The Cavs nearly made the playoffs last season, but they dropped both of their games in the league’s play-in tournament to fall out of the final playoff field.
Mitchell is the perfect fit to help carry the Cavs on offense when Garland is out of the game. Last season, especially down the stretch of the campaign with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley banged up, Cleveland struggled to find consistent offense with Garland on the bench.
During the 2021-22 regular season, Mitchell averaged 25.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from beyond the arc.
It had previously been reported that the Cavs had removed themselves from talks surrounding Mitchell, but things changed over the past week, especially with the New York Knicks’ shaking up the Mitchell trade market by extending RJ Barrett’s contract.
In the end, the Cavs offered more unprotected draft capital than the Knicks to secure Mitchell.
To be clear, there was additional draft pick compensation in the Knicks' overtures for Mitchell, but sources said Monday's final effort only included two unprotected selections. And in this offseason's economy, especially in Utah, unprotected picks were the name of the game. https://t.co/KTmzAppnhD
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) September 1, 2022
Cleveland now has one of the best young cores in the NBA with Garland, Mobley, Allen and Mitchell all under contract for at least the next few seasons.
