What A Wizards-Jazz Trade Involving Donovan Mitchell Could Look Like
One of the key storylines still circulating around league circles revolves around three-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell and his future with the Utah Jazz.
While he has not requested a trade, many believe that Mitchell could soon be on the move out of Utah given that the Jazz just traded All-Star center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this offseason.
The clock is ticking for the Jazz to make a franchise-altering move ahead of the start of the 2022-23 season and should he not be traded to the New York Knicks, the Washington Wizards could be a sneaky team to watch for in trade talks for Donovan Mitchell.
Recently, The Athletic’s Shams Charania mentioned the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards as teams monitoring Donovan Mitchell’s situation with the Utah Jazz.
If Washington is actually interested in going after Utah’s All-Star guard, they could put together a very intriguing trade package, possibly one that is better than that of the New York Knicks, who are thought by many around the league to be the front-runners to land Mitchell in a potential trade.
The Wizards have youthful talent that could be packaged together with some draft assets in a deal that could be very appealing to Utah, especially if they are to enter what is looking like a potential full-blown rebuild.
Because Mitchell is making $30.3 million next season and since the Wizards will not be parting ways with Bradley Beal nor Kristaps Porzingis, trying to match Donovan Mitchell’s salary could be very difficult to do without surrendering Kyle Kuzma. Putting together a trade package in general with the Jazz that does not involve Kuzma could end up being a deal-breaker!
Averaging 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds (career-high) and shooting 34.1% from three-point range last season, Kuzma established himself as a key, core option for his team and being 27-year-old, he could be the focal point for the rebuilding Jazz.
Along with trading Kyle Kuzma to Utah, young talents such as Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija and rookie Johnny Davis would also have to be on the move for value purposes. These three player’s contracts add up to about $15.9 million and combined with Kuzma’s, the Wizards would have about $28.9 million in outgoing salaries, enough to bring in Donovan Mitchell’s contract.
Hachimura is entering the final year of his rookie contract and both Avdija and Davis have plenty of years left on their rookie deals, making them key building blocks for the Jazz in this trade scenario.
Giving up a ton of youth and value at this point from a player perspective, the Wizards would likely only want to part ways with two draft picks – one first-round pick in 2025 and one in 2027 since they are unable to deal their 2024 first-round pick. This pick in 2024 cannot be traded due to the fact that the Wizards traded their 2023 first-round pick to Houston Rockets in their swap of John Wall for Russell Westbrook in 2020.
Since then, this first-round pick has been dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder and it now lies in the hands of the New York Knicks, who are also pursuing Donovan Mitchell this offseason.
In order to truly put themselves in the best position possible to land Mitchell, the Washington Wizards will not only need to be willing to part ways with a handful of valuable secondary talents like the ones mentioned above, but they may also have to give up more than just two first-round picks.
The Jazz have a high asking price for Donovan Mitchell right now and should this price not be met by any team in the league, Utah is more than comfortable keeping their All-Star and having him be the face of their rebuild.
As of right now, all indications point towards Mitchell wanting to remain with the Jazz and help turn their misfortunes around, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Nonetheless, the Wizards have the assets to get a deal done for a player like Donovan Mitchell should they decide to go “all-in” and sacrifice a large chunk of their future.
For an organization that has been to the playoffs just once in the last four seasons though and has won just one playoff series since 2016, this could be too big of a risk to take.
