Within his latest roundup of Donovan Mitchell rumors, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that the Cavaliers have “touched base” with the Jazz about Mitchell in recent days. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 named Cleveland as one of the teams with interest in Mitchell in a Tuesday report.
Begley observes that the Cavaliers have the young players and draft picks necessary to make a competitive offer for Mitchell, but stresses that their level of interest in the Jazz star is unknown.
As I noted on Tuesday, it would be a little surprising to see the Cavaliers make a serious bid for someone like Mitchell after just locking up Darius Garland to a maximum-salary extension. Garland and Mitchell could theoretically play together, but going all-in to acquire another ball-dominant guard may not be the best use of assets for a Cavs team that has a greater need for a two-way forward.
Here’s more from around the East:
- Deividas Sirvydis‘ new one-year contract with the Pacers includes Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means it could be converted into a two-way deal before opening night or could put Sirvydis in line to earn a $50K bonus if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with Indiana’s G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
- Reacting to the revelation that Jayson Tatum played through a non-displaced fracture in his wrist during the second half of the 2021/22 season, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston observes that Tatum’s ability to stay on the court enhances his value to the Celtics. Since entering the NBA in 2017, Tatum has missed just 25 of 390 regular season games and has appeared in all 74 of Boston’s playoff contests.
- In the second installment of a two-part mailbag, Eric Koreen of The Athletic considers whether the Raptors would have real interest in Myles Turner as a trade target, evaluates what two-way player Jeff Dowtin brings to Toronto, and weighs whether another Canadian city could get an NBA expansion team.
I already know I’m going to get backlash but aside from the opportunity to perform in the playoffs and have a few great performances, what’s the significant difference between Sexton and Mitchell that could possibly justify investing both the multiple young players and haul of 1st round picks it would take to please Danny Ainge? I’m too busy today to do it but the size, offensive numbers and defensive liability are near the same between the two.I assume Love or some combo of Levert, Osman or others would be sent to match salaries. Though I think this was just a due diligence call that went nowhere.
I agree with you. Collin Sexton isn’t Donovan Mitchell but he’s not far off. They both Shooting Guards stuck in Point Guard bodies that don’t play defense. Defensive liabilities. Both Donovan Mitchell and Collin Sexton. I’m not giving up a bunch of pieces for Donovan Mitchell.
Donovan Mitchell is overrated to me and in the same category as guys like Carmelo Anthony Russell Westbrook and James Harden. They put up great numbers but don’t impact winning. They put up them empty calories numbers.
The Utah Jazz should’ve kept Quin Snyder and Rudy Gobert and just traded Donovan Mitchell.
Rudy Gobert is a guy that impacts winning. He has been the best defensive player in the NBA the past five years. He’s a great rebounder and rim protector. He’s a great screen setter and great rim runner. He’s the type of Center you can win with.
Donovan Mitchell on the other hand is a high volume scorer that don’t play defense. Them type of guys I don’t want nowhere near on my team.
I agree with everything you said about Rudy. Mitchell’s package shouldn’t be as big as his because he’s not as good or impactful as Rudy.
But I do think Mitchell has some greatness in him. A new system, a new place and not having Bojan or Ingles as the 4 should help his defense some. That and convincing him to defer on offense some should help his defense a lot.
Everything you wrote about Gobert is accurate and spot on but I think you’re highly underrating Mitchell.
First off Spida would be honored to be compared to three 1st ballot Hall of Famers but no he’s not on that level yet.
He does however impact winning. Don’t forget when Mitchell broke into the league the Jazz had lost their franchise player in Hayward and their starting PG in George Hill. Most everyone wrote them off and figured that they’d tank for a few years to find the guy to replace Hayward. At first they were right and the Jazz we’re struggling but as Snyder started giving Mitchell more playing time the Jazz started winning. No doubt the Gobert led defense was a huge part of the success that year but Mitchell carried them offensively to the 5th seed in the West. They even won a series over the Westbrook and George led Clippers.
Mitchell is a volume scorer as that’s his job but he’s good at it there not just empty. Mitchell can bend a defense. With his quick first step he can get by most defenders and find his spot much like Sexton and they both hit difficult shots at a high rate inside the paint. However that’s all you get with Sexton. If nothing’s there Sexton has to reset the offense or force a bad shot where Mitchell can explode and dunk it or he’s got enough court vision to kick it out and keep the offense moving. Another major difference is Mitchell knows when to shoot and when to drive with a better proficiency then Sexton. I’ve seen Sexton pass up too many open looks from deep to drive as to where if there’s space Mitchell will take it. Mitchell can also pull up off the bounce from deep where Sexton is a spot up shooter.
The Jazz have win a lot of games the last few years and Mitchell has been at the center of it. They’ve had a top rated offense for several seasons with Mitchell as the centerpiece.
What you said is a great compare and contrast and I agree with you. I’m probably not giving Donovan Mitchell enough credit. Then he’s still young enough that with a 6’1 height and 6’10 wingspan he can become solid on defense.
The difference is so large that it’s almost a joke. Sexton does well on counting stats like shooting %s. However any look into advanced stats and on court impact makes the difference a max guy vs a guy that’s not gonna get over 3/51 if he’s lucky. Look up DARKO, DPM, LEBRON, RAPTOR, it gap is huge. Both are terrible defenders and Mitchell seems to try less than Sexton does. I think there is other reasons why Mitchell is so bad on defense and I don’t think he would be as much playing for Thibs.
It’s the difference between Trae Young and Spencer Dinwiddie. It’s about that big, maybe just a little smaller.
Donovan Mitchell can basically shoot pull up 3s from anywhere at 35% and does so at a ridiculous rate. On the surface that doesn’t sound that great but in reality it gives the offense a base level of efficiency that is extremely valuable. He could play with 4 G Leaguers and still maintain an okay offensive rating.
@QB1
I can’t even take you serious if you consider shooting % a “counting stat “. A ” counting stat ” are stats that are cumulative like points, rebounds, assists and FG or 3pt shots made. FG%, 3PT % and FT% shows how proficient or inefficient you are.
Sexton in 20-21: 24 points on 48%/37%/82% compared to Mitchell @ 26 points on 44%/38%/85%. Sexton averaged 4 3pt attempts per game to Mitchell’s 9 attempts. Sexton is slightly more efficent. Mitchell had to shoot twice as many 3s and just to score 2 more points.
Donovan Mitchell averaged 25+ ppg en route to being the top scoring option on a Utah team that was the #1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs 2 years ago. You actually get guarded from time to time on good teams.
Sexton has never scored a basket in a game that actually meant something in his life. Plenty of guys walking around the NBA who can score 20+ points per night if you let them shoot it. Sexton is your typical I get stats on bad teams guy. Cleveland was clearly better Without him, and his stats dipped to 16 ppg on an improved Cleveland team. Ain’t nobody in the NBA ever been worried about having to guard Collin Sexton.
“The Sexton Rules” – Let him get his points. Your team goes home with an easy 20 point Win. Starters get t0 rest the entire fourth quarter. Sexton stays in game getting buckets against backups.
you are so clueless. Sexton played all of 11 games. the reason they improved so much is because of their defense improved with Mobley. Shut up. Because if Bradley Beal, CJ, e.t.c were FA teams would be all over them and they weren’t from championship caliber teams.
Mitchell would be fine alongside DG, as DG is great off the ball for a PG. Ppl saying Donovan is a horrible defender but he really isn’t. He is super long and athletic and was great his first few years there. Thing is, when you have one of the greatest defensive center in history (his yr last year was statistically amazing), why do you need to need to give 100% on defense when you got Rudy behind you.
If the right pieces are given, I wouldn’t mind a DG Mitchell combo. But I think we are just dine with our current roster
Extremely long for 6’1***. He has 6’10’ wingspan…
Absolutely right
Also, Cavs don’t need defense. They need scoring and 3 point shooting and that is exactly what he brings
He would look good next to Garland but you’re right as far as keeping the roster you have because the Cavs would have to give up Mobley or Allen. They’re better off developing Mobley because that kids going to be a star.
Nobody is willing to go all in for Mitchell. I’ll even say that Garland is better than him. He’s faster, better dribbler and shooter.
Cavs shouldn’t make any changes at this point, they’ll make the playoffs this year, they have a good roster with plenty of talented youngsters. They have one of the deepest benches in the league; Agbaji, Okoro, Osman, Love, Wade, Rubio, Isaiah Nobley, Windler….
I totally agree with you makes great sense
Garland is good, and has moments, but he’s definitely not on Donovan’s level. Donovan gets the best defender on him every night.
Garland is more of a passer than Donovan so the best defender usually goes on their wings or post players.
Garland is just as tough as Donovan, but he’s still got ways to go on offense to be as good of a scorer against anybody like Donovan is now. Plus, he’s looked to have improved his midrange game this Summer. There’s talk he could average 30ppg this year. I wouldn’t doubt it.
Overall, they may seem similar but they’re very different roles. Remember, the Jazz use Conley to bring up the ball. Much like Chris Paul does for the Suns. Garland would play that role if they traded for Donovan.
The Kings would be a good landing spot for Mitchell. I really don’t see how Fox can lead this team to the playoffs.
They f****d up by trading Tyrese and keeping Fox. He missed one fourth of the regular season, shot 29% from 3’s and had a poor FG percentage. He’ll be unreadable by the end of the season.
Fox shot %38 from deep after the Sabonis trade.
Yep, and his stats went up across the board. I had him on my fantasy team quite a bit last season.
*Untradable.
Mitchell is being undervalued because of the months long saga. His game is being picked apart because of the trade stalemate. I think he’s a budding superstar. Ainge is devaluing his own asset.