Donovan Mitchell has been linked with a move away from the Utah Jazz for a long time now. The talented shooting guard has been unable to get past the second round of the playoffs during his short career, which has sparked rumors about a potential exit from the team.
This season, rumors didn’t stop, but after seeing what the Jazz did last season in the regular season, many people waited and see what they could do in the playoffs. Well, they were once again eliminated before reaching the conference finals, this time by the Dallas Mavericks, who played without Luka Doncic during the first three games of the series.
The situation has reignited all the rumors about Mitchell, even though the Jazz are reportedly ready to keep building around him. The New York Knicks have been mentioned as the most likely destination for Spida, but league executives see another Eastern Conference team as the best landing spot for the player.
Via The New York Post:
Mitchell was asked a different way about the rumors he might want to leave Salt Lake City.
“My mindset is to win,” he said. “Right now, I’m not really looking at that. I answered (the first) question, and you could take that. But for me, I just want to win, yo. Like, this hurts. And like I said, I’ll think about it in a week and go from there. But right now, I’m not thinking at all about that.”
Nothing definitive about wanting to honor the three years and $98 million left on his pact. Post Sports+ reported earlier this month that Dwyane Wade, a minority Jazz owner, could play a big role in whether Mitchell is content to stay in Salt Lake City.
Miami has been mentioned by league sources as a smart landing spot for Mitchell with Wade’s strong connections to his beloved Heat. However, Knicks president Leon Rose was Wade’s agent in the later stages of the guard’s career. Rose postponed his start with the Knicks to arrange Wade’s retirement ceremony in Miami.
The Miami Heat have a solid group of players that are doing incredible things in the 2022 playoffs. They still have Victor Oladipo on the roster, but the player isn’t expected to last long in South Beach. Perhaps adding Mitchell and teaming him up with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo is what the Heat need to become the ruler of the East for many years.
This is a long shot right now, but we’ve seen crazier things happen in the league. Perhaps in the next couple of months or during the 2022/23 season, Mitchell gets tired of his situation and demands a trade from the Jazz.
