New Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell was very open about how he felt during his introductory press conference with the team. The NBA All-Star really thought that he would be heading back home to play for the New York Knicks and was excited about doing that.
But, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that he was ecstatic about ending up with the Cavaliers, especially after he found out about the players that they were able to keep in the trade.
The Mitchell blockbuster will be analyzed and talked about for years to come. The direction of multiple franchises was changed as a result of it and seeing what moves each makes next will be worth keeping an eye on.
Mitchell is joining a Cavaliers team that already has two All-Stars in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen and a budding star in Evan Mobley. That is an excellent core to build a roster around as Mitchell will attempt to elevate them beyond what he was able to accomplish with the Jazz.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Knicks Updates
Despite being one of the best regular-season teams the last few seasons, Utah was unable to get over the hump in the postseason. They failed to advance beyond the second round during Mitchell’s tenure with the team, which is part of the reason that Danny Ainge broke up the roster this offseason.
Many people felt the Jazz needed a shake-up of some sort, but Ainge went scorched earth on the roster. He traded away Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale in addition to Mitchell with other veterans remaining on the trading block.
Ainge made some comments about this Jazz roster not looking like one that believed in each other anymore. That is something Mitchell took some exception to when making an appearance on The Woj Pod.
“Not at all. That’s his assumption after being around for six months, it’s easy to look at things from the outside in and get your own perception on stuff. Despite what the media reports, especially about me and Rudy like this, to be honest, it’s obvious what everybody talks about, granted, we had some differences. But at the end of the day, we were the number one pick-and-roll duo for a lot of last year, we were very efficient together on the floor. There was a lot of things that played into it that we just didn’t have success, you know? (…) I wouldn’t say this group didn’t believe each other. (…) I wouldn’t say that we didn’t believe in each other. I don’t think that’s fair after six months.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Knicks Updates
Ainge didn’t hold back in his comments about the team and Mitchell did the same when answering questions about it. There are certainly differing opinions on the matter and it likely doesn’t help that Ainge didn’t send Mitchell to a franchise that he had hoped to land with.
While Ainge has helped the Jazz set themselves up for the future, it could have come at a cost.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Knicks Updates
With some of the reports that have come out about how he handled negotiations with the Knicks and actively looking to trade Mitchell somewhere he didn’t ask to be moved, Ainge has a lot of work to do when it comes to rebuilding player relations. No one is going to want to play for the Jazz if his ego gets in the way of doing what is best for his team and players.
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