Heat Floated as Another Potential Suitor in Donovan Mitchell Sweepstakes
Another day, another rumor. That's the haps here at The Frozen Rope as we chronicle the Utah Jazz on a daily basis.
Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell has been hotly linked to multiple trade landing spots since the team's season ended more than two weeks back, in yet another early playoff exit, this time at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks.
Will Utah throw in with Mitchell or Rudy Gobert? Does there have to be a pivot point or ultimatum? Or is the "him or me" rhetoric reportedly demanded by Gobert nothing but media hogwash?
While the Jazz debate and decide these issues internally, the rumor mill cranks on apace. The latest on Mitchell ties him to another Eastern Conference potential landing spot.
Sports Illustrated mentioned the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks as a player to watch in the Mitchell sweepstakes. We'd heard about another NBA writer linking Mitchell to Atlanta but the Eastern Conference's No. 1-seeded Heat?
It could make some sense but figuring out how Mitchell would fit in with that talented cast of players wouldn't be easy. After all, too many cooks can ruin the broth. But it would be a trade, so Utah would ostensibly be getting players and draft capital in a Mitchell deal with Miami.
However, if the Jazz are going to break up the Mitchell/Gobert ticket, it'd be an upset to see the center, and relic of a bygone age of basketball, be the last man standing in Utah. Still, until it's resolved, we must consider the possibility that Mitchell could be moved.
Mitchell would certainly provide Utah with a bigger return than Gobert would on the trade market. So, if the Jazz are ready to blow the whole thing up and start over, moving Mitchell would make sense because the assets his trade would provide could really boost Utah's ability to rebuild.
However, reading between the lines and interpreting both the tone and content of what the Jazz brass have said in recent weeks, this is not a club looking to host a firesale in the interest of rebuilding. That means that if the Mitchell/Gobert ticket is indeed torn asunder, the odds are that it'll be the center sent packing, not the dynamic guard.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.