The Jazz are willing to listen to offers for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Utah had previously turned aside calls regarding Mitchell but is now willing to listen to trade scenarios.
In fact, the Jazz are open to making trades involving anyone on their roster but Mitchell is obviously the most coveted piece, Wojnarowski adds in a separate tweet.
Following the Rudy Gobert blockbuster with the Timberwolves, reports stated that the Jazz were looking to build around Mitchell. However, it’s not all that surprising Utah may shift gears and go into rebuild mode after the Mitchell-Gobert partnership failed to get the Jazz to a Finals appearance.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that rival executives had heard Utah executive Danny Ainge isn’t convinced Mitchell can be the face of a contending franchise. GM Justin Zanik didn’t label Mitchell as “untouchable” but made it clear last week that moving Mitchell wasn’t part of the team’s current plans.
Earlier last week, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that Mitchell wasn’t on the verge of asking for a trade.
Mitchell signed a Designated Rookie max extension in 2020 and has four years left on his contract ($30.4MM, $32.6MM, $34.8MM and $37.1MM, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes in a tweet. The last year includes a player option.
Despite the addition of Jalen Brunson, the Knicks can be expected to put together a package and make a serious offer for Mitchell, sources told Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, the Jazz’s asking price is sky high, Jones adds.
The Heat could be in the mix, too. The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang notes that the Heat have avoided triggering a hard cap in their offseason moves in order to keep their options open for a blockbuster deal involving a player such as Mitchell (Twitter link). Miami has made its interest in Mitchell clear to Utah, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets, with speculation that such a deal would involve Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and draft picks.
The Jazz got a major haul for Gobert and presumably would want as much, or more, for Mitchell. He’s averaged 23.9 PPG, 4.5 APG and 4.2 RPG in 345 NBA regular-season contests. He’s also had some big postseason performances, averaging 28.3 PPG, 4.9 APG and 4.2 RPG in 39 playoff games.
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