The Utah Jazz are likely on the market for a new starting point guard. To that end, Donovan Mitchell may be low-key pitching soon-to-be free agent D’Angelo Russell.
With the Ricky Rubio experiment likely at its end, the Utah Jazz will have a big job ahead of them this offseason. Their mission: to find a starting point that provides a better fit next to Donovan Mitchell in Jazz coach Quin Snyder’s offense.
A lot of names have been thrown around as potential Rubio replacements by fans and pundits alike. Chief among them: Kemba Walker and Mike Conley. However, Mitchell may just have another floor general in mind.
On his Instagram story on Wednesday, Mitchell posted a picture of two player bobbleheads. One was of his own likeness, with its arm extended towards the other, which was Brooklyn Nets point-man and soon-to-be restricted free agent D’Angelo Russell, who he tagged in the post.
Check it out, via the Deseret News’ Ryan McDonald —
Here is a thing Donovan Mitchell posted on his Insta story, which is fun given what time of year it is pic.twitter.com/cyIof7c9bf
— Ryan McDonald (@ryanwmcdonald) May 21, 2019
Did Donovan just try to recruit Russell on the D’Lo, is he having a bit of fun at our expense or is this simply the classic case of a dude posting pictures of bobble heads just because? You decide!
In any case, it’s probably not hard for the Jazzland majority to hype themselves on a Mitchell-Russell pairing. Perhaps Utah’s biggest need this offseason is another dynamic offensive player and bucket-getter to take the pressure off of No. 45, and few backcourt players in the Association get buckets like Russell.
In 81 games this past season, Russell put up 21.1 points, seven assists and four boards per contest. Along the way, he knocked down a respectable 37 percent of his nearly eight 3-point attempts per game and secured his first All-Star bid in the process.
Without question, the Nets don’t make the playoffs without him. That said, Russell-to-the-Jazz isn’t exactly a clear-cut home run.
While Russell’s efforts and late-game heroics helped Brooklyn get back to the postseason, his playoff performance was also a major reason for the Nets’ disappointing showing there. The 23-year-old put up just 19 points on more than 20 shots per game and was under 36 percent from the field.
As a result, he was Brooklyn’s most negative postseason player, with a net rating of minus-28.6. And even during the regular season, his efficiency left something to be desired. Yes, his 3-point shot is falling more regularly, but he doesn’t go to the line (at just four FTA per 100 possesions) and he shot a career-low 55.8 percent within three feet of the hoop.
There’s also the matter of his being a restricted free agent. Unless the Nets land Kyrie Irving or someone else of that ilk and cut him loose, the Jazz could lose out on Derrick Favors just for pursuing the former No. 2 overall pick.
That doesn’t exactly jibe with how the Jazz do business or their feelings for Favors.
Still, if you’re a team in need desperate need of a playmaker and a scorer and you have the chance to get a 23-year-old All-Star that’s already chummy with your own (almost) 23-year-old star, that’s probably a move you have to make.