So far the Donovan Mitchell trade hasn't truly benefited either side
By Chad Porto
The trade of Donovan Mitchell was supposed to be a monumental one. The Utah Jazz sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and Ochai Agbaji, three first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps. An impressive haul for the Jazz. On the Cavaliers' side, criticism arose with who went over in the trade, as Sexton and Markkanen were seen by many (myself included) to be the guys the Cavs should focus on, not Darius Garland.
In fact, losing Markkanen has been an issue since the trade, as the Cavaliers have yet to replace him in any meaningful way. It was a smart idea to trade for Mitchell, but the Cavs made the mistake of who to give up in the deal. Which for the Jazz, was a good thing. Sexton and Markkanne have played well since the trade, but like the Cavs, the Jazz keep making trades where they lose better-than-expected players. This has led to the Jazz failing to not only make the playoffs but keep a winning record.
The Cavs have a winning record and have made the playoffs, but have disappointed in back-to-back postseasons. The goals for both teams are different, but it's fair to say that they've both failed to clear the bar needed in order to say they had a successful season.
For the Cavs, it's an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, if not more, and for the Jazz it's a winning record and a Play-In Spot. Two different levels of success and both teams failed to make them.
It's fair to say that, be it the Jazz or the Cavs, neither team has benefited from the trade.
Hope is waning for the Cleveland Cavaliers but the Utah Jazz still have a shot to benefit
For the Cavaliers, they have choices to make. Koby Altman has proven to be quite bad at his job, drafting Darius Garland over Tyler Herro, drafting Isaac Okoro over Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, and even Deni Advjia, while drafting Evan Mobley over a slew of other names, like Franz Wagner and Alpren Sengugn. The Cavs have a bunch of young players with limited trade value, all of whom now have the recognition of being underperformers and unreliable players.
The Cavs don't have a lot of pieces they can trade to drastically improve this roster.
The Utah Jazz, on the other hand, haven't even hit their stride. While the Jazz may not have had any success on the court, they haven't even gotten to the heart of the Cavaliers trade payload. The upside for the Jazz is still here, and if the team can re-sign Lauri Markkanen to a new deal, then the future will be extremely bright for the squad. Something the Cavaliers and Mitchell really can't say in return.