By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Utah Jazz are now in full rebuild mode after trading franchise player Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for six total players.
After another painful NBA playoff exit at the hands of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, Utah finally decided to part ways with their core, first sending their superstar center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Gobert trade essentially signaled to the league that Utah was ready to rebuild and many expected Mitchell to soon follow.
Utah will be shipping Mitchell to the Eastern Conference in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and 2022 first-round pick Ochai Agbaji.
Aside from the three Cleveland players, Utah will also receive three unprotected first-round draft picks and two pick swaps.
The Jazz were a perennial playoff team in the Western Conference for three years but never advanced to the finals despite their core of Mitchell, Gobert, Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Mike Conley, and Jordan Clarkson.
Their last playoff run became a bitter ending to their franchise after losing against a banged-up Dallas squad who only got the injured Doncic back in Game 3 of their duel.
Mitchell will look to bring the Cavaliers back to post-season glory and will add more firepower to its talented young roster.
Leading the Cleveland pool are Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Love, Caris LeVert, and Isaac Okoro.
