Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert’s relationship has been a rocky one, especially over the last couple of seasons. Ever since the COVID test that shut the league down in March 2020, which saw Gobert and Mitchell test positive for the virus, their relationship has been very strained.
On the court, the Jazz’s overachieving success has turned into underwhelming disappointments. They blew a 3-1 lead in 2020. They couldn’t close out a Clippers series after Kawhi Leonard tore his knee, and this year they couldn’t capitalize on the Dallas Mavericks being without Luka Doncic to open the first-round series that Utah lost.
A trade for one of the two players, if not both, seems inevitable at this point. It seems the discordance and open disses about defensive and offensive effort may stop, as Mitchell took to his Instagram to wish Gobert a happy birthday, which means there has been some effort into rebuilding a personal relationship between the players.
https://twitter.com/thenbacentral/status/1541557664622252042
Gobert and Mitchell are not meshing well on the court anymore. A big reason for this is the Jazz’s supporting cast, which has been getting worse over the years. They just saw head coach Quin Snyder elect to leave the role after the incredibly tough season.
If they were sure that one of them will be moved this offseason, a gesture like this might not have even taken place. Mitchell sending his wishes out shows he is making an effort to keep the relationship with Gobert positive ahead of next season.
Gobert has more teams circling for him as he makes a contending team instantly better by just being a defensive stopper. Mitchell is younger and has a little more to learn to refine his game, so finding a destination for him with the right compensation will be challenging but can guarantee a fantastic return on assets.
