Surprise, surprise – Utah Jazz exercise team option on Donovan Mitchell

The Utah Jazz have exercised their third-year team options for both Donovan Mitchell and Tony Bradley.

Big news, Utah Jazz fans. The Jazz have officially exercised their third-year team option on budding star Donovan Mitchell, meaning they’re planning to keep him around on his rookie contract at least through the 2019-20 season.

OK, so this should come as no surprise to anyone, and we all know Mitchell will be staying in Utah for much longer than just his third year as Utah will almost certainly exercise their option for 2020-21 as well, then match any offers thrown his way once he hits restricted free agency. In fact, I’ll be shocked if we even get to the point where Mitchell receives offers, as it’s likely the Jazz will simply lock him down long-term well before that point be it via an extension or otherwise.

So as I said, while it isn’t surprising news whatsoever, it is still good news, and a nice reminder that the Jazz are going to keep a hold of their rising star for a long time yet. Donovan Mitchell was electric in 2017-18 as he took the league by storm and helped the Jazz instantly rebound from the challenging circumstances of losing their lone All-Star from the season prior during the offseason.

Between Mitchell’s ascent and the incredible play of Rudy Gobert, the Jazz appear poised to be a powerhouse in the Western Conference for the foreseeable future.

So far, Mitchell has looked good in preseason as well, as he finished Utah’s five-game slate averaging nearly 25 points per-36 minutes, and shooting an efficient 41.7 percent from deep on nearly five attempts per game. Raising his efficiency was a point of emphasis for Donovan heading into this year, so ideally he’ll continue to grow in that aspect.

His preseason field goal percentage was down a little bit from what he put up over the course of the 2017-18 season, but I suspect we’ll see improvements in that aspect as well. Either way, considering all Mitchell does for the Jazz on both ends of the floor, I wouldn’t be too concerned about any minor preseason hiccups. He’s proven himself already as an absolute stud and rising star for the Jazz, and such will likely only continue to be the case this upcoming season.

In related, and somewhat more surprising (though not that shocking) news, the Utah Jazz likewise exercised their third-year option on young big man Tony Bradley. Bradley spent most of his time last season in the G-League with the Salt Lake City Stars, and considering how little time he logged in preseason this year, it’s probably safe to say he’ll be doing a lot of the same this time around.

Bradley has a lot of the necessary tools to turn into a special player, but is lacking much of the development that it will require to do so. The Jazz obviously have high hopes and expectations for him, though, and exercising the team option on his contract is high evidence of that.

Utah has found success relying on continuity and exceptional internal improvement. Continuing to work with and believe in the likes of Tony Bradley and Donovan Mitchell is simply an example of them sticking to their fundamentals.

Thus far, Utah’s strategies have led to back-to-back playoff appearances and set the table extremely well for what could be an electrifying future. As the likes of Mitchell and Bradley continue to grow along with their teammates, I’d expect big things for the Utah Jazz sooner rather than later.