Last summer, in the midst of Donovan Mitchell mania, I wrote about Danny Ainge's history of winning blockbuster trades. The former Celtics and current Jazz executive has acquired stars (Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen) and rebuilt with draft picks (Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum).
In his first major move with Utah, Ainge and the Jazz's brain trust agreed to send three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to Minnesota in exchange for a massive package of picks and players. That very well could turn out to be yet another deal in the "W" column for Ainge.
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His next trade, though, may not go down as a smashing success.
On Sept. 3, the Cavaliers acquired Donovan Mitchell from the Jazz, giving up — deep breath here — Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029) and two pick swaps (2026, 2028). That seemed like a lot to give up at the time, but Mitchell is already showing Utah why it should be second-guessing the deal.
In his first season with the Cavs, Mitchell is averaging 28.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from beyond the arc on high volume. He has been one of the NBA's top players in both isolation and pick-and-roll situations.
He put all of his offensive skills on display in an incredible 71-point performance against the Bulls.
But the three-time All-Star has also been getting it done on the other end of the floor. Before the season, Mitchell pledged to "lock in" defensively, and the advanced metrics and eye test paint him as an improved defender.
Perhaps Mitchell needed a change in order to discover this version of himself, but Ainge and the Jazz must be wondering if they pulled the trigger too early.
Mitchell is only 26 years old and has not yet hit his prime. He is under contract through at least the 2024-25 season. He is the type of perimeter creator that every team needs, especially in the NBA Playoffs when the tempo tends to slow down and games are often tilted by star takeovers.
Utah had that guy. There was no rule stating that they were required to end the Mitchell era before the 2022-23 campaign began. (Just consider what happened in Brooklyn after Kevin Durant requested a trade.)
Even if the Jazz were absolutely determined to trade Mitchell rather than rebuild around him, they could have held onto him a little bit longer. As ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported, the NBA is a sellers' market because so many teams have not yet determined whether they are going all-in right now or looking toward the future.
Imagine Utah creating a bidding war for Mitchell ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. What would contenders have been willing to put on the table with so few difference-makers available?
Look, it's easy to be critical of Ainge and the Jazz at the moment. But it's worth noting that Markkanen has been thriving in Utah, and those unprotected picks could turn into terrific players or be used in another trade down the road.
And yet, it's hard not to envision a scenario in which Mitchell establishes himself as the franchise cornerstone in Cleveland, leading the Cavs to multiple deep postseason runs and pushing those picks to the back end of the first round.
Ainge's front office career is one that plenty of executives would take in a heartbeat, but no one in that business is perfect. Will the Mitchell trade be the one blemish on his resume?
