UTAH JAZZ
Donovan Mitchell Reportedly To ‘Stand Pat,’ Not Force ‘Action Right Now’
SALT LAKE CITY – Three-time NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell doesn’t plan to “force any action right now” from the Utah Jazz, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
The NBA insider reported the news during ESPN’s “Get Up” on Thursday, July 7.
Windhorst said that the Jazz are communicating to other NBA teams that they “don’t intend to trade” Mitchell this offseason and plan to build around the Louisville product. He also added that Mitchell currently doesn’t plan to request a trade out of Utah.
“After the Gobert trade, there was a belief that maybe Mitchell would be next, and maybe at some point he will be,” Windhorst said. “For now, the Jazz are telling people they don’t intend to trade him, and on Mitchell’s side, he’s going to stand pat. He’s not going to force any action right now.”
A day before his comments on “Get Up,” Windhorst discussed Mitchell and the Jazz on his podcast, “The Hoop Collective.” Mitchell questioned the Jazz organization on the direction of the franchise after Utah traded fellow All-Star Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Jazz gathered six first-round picks in the past 24 hours, including 7-footer Walker Kessler, the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 Draft. The Jazz plan to retool the roster around All-Star G Donovan Mitchell.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2022
“From what I understand, Donovan was like, ‘So, what’s the plan here? You’ve just traded two players that were really helpful to us for draft picks essentially,’” Windhorst said.
He added that Utah’s plan is “to do what’s right for the franchise.”
“If they deem for the franchise the correct thing is to build around Donovan Mitchell with all those pieces and parts they’ll do that,” Windhorst said of Jazz owner Ryan Smith and CEO Danny Ainge. “If they believe the correct thing is trade you for another haul and start from scratch, then they’ll do that. But their priority is not gonna be what Donovan Mitchell wants.”
Prior to the start of free agency in late June, the Jazz let Eric Paschall and Trent Forrest, two of Mitchell’s close teammates and friends, enter unrestricted free agency rather than re-sign them to new contracts.
In November 2020, the Jazz and Mitchell agreed to a maximum contract extension worth nearly $200 million. Mitchell is still under contract with Utah for three more seasons before he has a player option for a fourth year.
Mitchell was selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. During his five seasons, Mitchell has earned three NBA All-Star selections and has helped the Jazz reach the postseason in every season of his career.
Donovan Mitchell has been a beast in Utah:
— 24/4/5
— 44/36/83%
— 3x All StarLed the Jazz in playoff points every season of his career. pic.twitter.com/ahvdUIO5HO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) July 3, 2022
In 345 career regular season games, Mitchell has averaged 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 0.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 33.7 minutes per contest. He’s shot 44.1 percent overall and 36.1 percent on three-pointers.
