Danny Ainge has made it a habit of his to get the better end of the deal when it comes to trades in the NBA. He showed that yet again this offseason when he managed to get a massive haul from the Timberwolves in return for Rudy Gobert. It was such a huge haul, that it had a ripple effect throughout the league and it ended up increasing the Nets’ asking price for Kevin Durant.
Based on the package that they got for Gobert, the Jazz seemed to have opted for a total rebuild, which meant it was only a matter of time before Donovan Mitchell was also dealt by the team. That finally happened on Thursday when they traded him to the Cavaliers in a blockbuster deal.
Brian Scalabrine Believes It Was An Unbelievable Trade For Danny Ainge
In return for their star guard, the Jazz managed to get Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and Ochai Agbaji to go with 3 first-round picks and 2 pick swaps. It is a big haul and Brian Scalabrine believes that Ainge did a great job here.
. @Scalabrine is a big fan of Thursday’s trade for both the Cavs and the Jazz #LetEmKnow #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/Y0I6yyxMG3
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 2, 2022
“I thought it was a very good trade for Cleveland to get him and I thought it was an unbelievable trade for Danny Ainge and what he got. Collin Sexton can score, Markkanen is a good player and you basically get 3 lottery picks, Sexton at a decent number, Markkanen at a decent number. At the end of the day if Danny wanted to move both of those guys, he could for more first-round picks.”
They have now managed to turn Gobert and Mitchell into 9 players, 7 first-round picks, and 3 first-round swaps, which is quite the haul. It was time to rebuild in Utah and they do now have a lot of potential building blocks. As Scalabrine also points out, someone like Collin Sexton can also be flipped for more assets depending on how he performs here. Sexton had averaged 24.3 points per game in 2020-21 for the Cavaliers before playing just 11 games last season due to injury. If he balls out, they either have someone to build around or they can get a sizeable haul for him as well.
As for the Cavs, it was still a good trade even if they gave up all of that as they managed to keep Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. These three along with Mitchell form a very promising young core that should enable the Cavaliers to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference for the years to come.
