Dec 18, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) embrace after a game at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Wizards recently locked up Bradley Beal to a long-term extension, so it makes sense that they would want to shift their focus to competing in the very near future. While that’s a good idea, and the Wizards may have a few draft picks, they just don’t have a combination of young players they’re willing to deal and a haul of draft picks similar to the one that Utah got for Rudy Gobert. That haul may not be the norm in the NBA, and the Jazz might not even get that haul for Donovan Mitchell, but after they did it once in the off-season, there’s no doubting that Danny Ainge wants to do it again.
With Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma and some decent young pieces, the Wizards can no doubt chase a play-in spot in 2022, but it seems that getting Mitchell and taking the next step in the Eastern Conference might not be two things the team can do in one off-season. If the Wizards are able to get a second and potentially third team involved, then they may be able to pair Beal and Mitchell together, which would give this team one of the best scoring duos in the game, but it would need to be part of a longer build, and wouldn’t make them immediate contenders in 2022/23.
Ultimately, the Wizards have very little chance of landing Donovan Mitchell, but there’s still a chance that if the Knicks negotiations drag out long enough, the Wizards may be able to swoop.
Utah Jazz</a> hold onto their All-Star until the 2022/23 trade deadline, it still seems most likely that the No. 14 overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft will be on the move before the start of the upcoming campaign.</p>
<p>The New York Knicks still seem to be the leading candidate to land their home-town kid, but over the past few days, negotiations between the two franchises have seemingly stalled. Yesterday however, <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/27/utah-jazz-team-best-chance-landing-donovan-mitchell/2/"https://www.si.com/nba/jazz/news/donovan-mitchell-trade-rumor-six-new-teams#:~:text=New%20teams%20have%20emerged%20in,Utah%20Jazz%20executive%20Danny%20Ainge.">a list of teams targeting Mitchell emerged</a>, and if the reported interest is genuine, the trade may be dragged out for weeks to come, with plenty of new suitors entering the fray.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell is no doubt a game changed for any of the franchises named, but only one team will land the services of such an elite scorer and clutch playoff performer. So where exactly will Spida land?</p>
<h3>7. Could the Utah Jazz deal with the Atlanta Hawks?</h3>
<p>The Atlanta Hawks were part of the teams interested in Mitchell and checked in with the Jazz on a potential deal, but for a number of reasons, it just makes little to no sense. Given that the Hawks just traded three first round picks to San Antonio for Dejonte Murray, they simply don’t have the assets to go after Mitchell, especially given the desires of Danny Ainge in a trade, which seems to be maximizing the return of draft capital.</p>
<p>There is a way for Atlanta to involve another team in this trade to give Utah the draft picks they desire, but with that idea comes the second problem for Atlanta. With Trae Young and Murray already pencilled in as the teams starting backcourt, adding a third All-Star caliber guard seems like an attractive idea, but it just wouldn’t make sense. There’s potentially a way for Atlanta to make that work, but given the lack of height that the starting lineup would then feature, just wouldn’t be a good thing for a team looking to take the next step in a very tough Eastern Conference.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Atlanta may have interest in Mitchell, but given their lack of resources and the way that he would fit on this Hawks team, there’s just no way that a deal will get done here.</p>
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