Donovan Mitchell’s status is very much up in the air following the Utah Jazz’s first-round playoff implosion this year.
At this point, the ongoing feud between Mitchell and teammate Rudy Gobert is established fact. Neither side is hiding it. One of them will have to go this offseason.
Gobert has two squads that are currently vying for his services.
Mitchell, up to this point, has consistently been linked to just one other team.
According to Sports Illustrated, two new organizations are quietly emerging as legit threats to the New York Knicks for Mitchell’s services.
“Almost every team in the league would show trade interest in Mitchell if he was to request a trade out of Utah, but the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks are two other teams besides the Knicks that Mitchell would have interest in,” the report read.
“Pat Riley’s success throughout the years in Miami’s front office and the Heat already having proven All-Stars on their roster makes them an attractive destination and one of Mitchell’s best friends in the league is Trae Young, also making the Hawks a fascinating destination for Mitchell to potentially build one of the best backcourts in the league with Young.”
It seems like Utah wants to retain Mitchell over Gobert. And seeing as he is under contract through the 2024-25 season with a player option for the 2025-26 season, there some measure of leverage there.
That said, if Mitchell decides he wants out – the Jazz will be hard-pressed to stop him. Superstars have a lot of power in this league.
This will be an interesting situation to monitor going forward.
The Jazz will inevitably look much different come the start of the 2022-23 NBA season.
What will those changes ultimately consist of? Time will tell.
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