Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell vs. Rudy Gobert couldn’t have come at a better time

If you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, think again — apparently, there’s trouble in paradise between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. For the Utah Jazz, though, this kind of star-studded discord couldn’t have come at a better time.

If you suffer from any kind of depression, anxiety or nervousness, now’s not the time to interact with other Utah Jazz fans over on Twitter. On Friday morning, Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic revealed that the Jazz are working to repair the relationship between its pair of All-Star players in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert …

Things aren’t going well.

According to the report, at least one source close to the team claims that the relationship “doesn’t appear to be salvageable.” If you haven’t read it or listened to Jones’ take on things, know that the current contention isn’t solely a result of Rudy’s mishandling of COVID-19 precautions …

Apparently, the friction between the two has existed for quite some time.

It’s Easter Sunday, though — let’s focus on something positive.

While a host of Jazz fans are losing hours of sleep at the thought of a “Tyrone Corbin 2.0” kind of situation in Salt Lake City, of this much I’m certain: given the league’s indefinite (sigh) hiatus, the Jazz’s current drama couldn’t have come at a better time.

I don’t know when the NBA will be back; you don’t either. For some sort of workable time frame, let’s run with Bobby Marks’ best guess — after all, he’s ESPN’s front office insider for the NBA:

If Marks’ forecast is even remotely close to reality, Mitchell and Gobert wouldn’t have to think about sharing the hardwood for three whole months. Their off-court issues aren’t anything new, but without on-court chemistry to worry about, who knows what could happen in 90 days’ time?

Heck, NASA needed only 134 days to send Apollo 8 to the moon — this should be easy.

You’re stuck in quarantine; you know the feeling: sitcoms become boring, video games lose their appeal and you tire of seeing the faces of those you live with. Alone with their thoughts, not only will Mitchell and Gobert look forward to seeing their teammates when all of this blows over, but they’ll feel the weight of a small-market’s title hopes resting squarely on their shoulders, as well.

Beyond that, Marks’ timeline means that neither Mitchell nor Gobert can be traded for five months. The Jazz aren’t a knee-jerk franchise, but even if they were doing their best New York Knicks impersonation (think Kristaps Porziņģis), in addition to looking into a number of possible trades, their best option is obvious: simply keep the pair of All-Star players they already have.

Again, they potentially have five months — five months!

Take to the NBA Trade Machine if you must; the mass hysteria, however, needs to stop.

Of course there’s a chance that things don’t work out, but right now, nothing can be done about it. Mitchell, Gobert and the Jazz organization have plenty of time on their hands. Judging from the school-girl hissy fit that’s infiltrated the team’s locker room, that might be a good thing …

Time will tell. At the same time, though, let time work its magic …

Who knows? That might be all that’s needed to make things right.