At this point in the NBA offseason, fans of every team expect the Utah Jazz to move guard Donovan Mitchell sometime before the trade deadline. The Vegas odds say it’s even money if he stays or if he goes, and after the Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale trades left the Jazz without any form of defense, it’s safe to say that the Jazz are heading towards a rebuild.
It makes sense. They have made the playoffs and found a ton of regular season success with their present roster, but in the postseason they get absolutely embarrassed year after year. Being a top four or five team doesn’t mean much when no one seriously considers you a title contender. Utah could take a page from the Spurs’ book. They developed a star in Dejounte Murray, but he did not fit the timeline moving forward so the Spurs sent him to Atlanta for draft capital to retool around younger guys.
Utah Jazz: Trading Donovan Michell is not necessary to rebuild
Murray and Mitchell are the same age, and while Murray is undoubtedly the better defender, no one in their right mind would claim that he’s a better player. Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the league, a constant threat to lead the league in points, and is a three-time All-Star. The Jazz could trade him for some extra draft capital, or they could sit back during the 2022-23 NBA season and come back with a vengeance, still being led by Mitchell.
Without Gobert, the Jazz do not really have a starting center. Hassan Whiteside is still a free agent, Walker Kessler and Kofi Cockburn are rookies, and Udoka Azubuike isn’t exactly a starting quality guy. On top of that, Mike Conley and Patrick Beverly, at this point in their careers, will not lead the team to a title. The Jazz have talent, to be sure. Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jared Butler, Leandro Bolmaro, Johnny Juzang, and Neckeil Alexander-Walker are all interesting, and Mitchell, Clarkson, Bogdanovic, and the other vets are all reliable, if not great, pieces to have.
If the Jazz can make it work this season and keep all their players happy, there is no reason they can’t rebuild with the pieces they have. Usually, teams look for draft picks when they tear it all down, and Mitchell would certainly bring a haul home.
That being said, the long-term future is uncertain, but the 2023 NBA Draft is perhaps the most stacked one since 1984. After this season, the Jazz will have their own pick, presumably in the lottery. They also own Minnesota’s, and the most favorable of Houston’s, Brooklyn’s, or Philadelphia’s. They could package those picks to move up and find a guy to move forward with.
Let’s pretend that with their three picks next season and Walker Kessler, the Jazz manage to find two solid players out of those four. That’s not unreasonable, and it would give Mitchell two more solid players to pair with Clarkson, who also fits the timeline. Jarred Vanderbilt, Butler, and Bolmaro are all young, so the odds of Utah having a seriously competitive lineup by 2025 is not a stretch, and Mitchell will only be 28, just starting to peak.
Just for some insurance, the Jazz have multiple first-round picks in 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2029, and still hold their own in 2028. So even if the rebuild takes a bit longer, the resources are still there.
The Jazz could simply trade Mitchell and start over from scratch, but they don’t need to. There is still a blueprint for long-term success with Mitchell at the helm. Aside from Jayson Tatum and maybe Bam Adebayo, Mitchell is the best player from the 2017 draft class. Neither the Heat or the Celtics are even considering moving on from those young stars, even with Kevin Durant on the line, so the Jazz shouldn’t be in a rush to move on from their best player, who hasn’t even hit his peak yet.