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The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster trade Thursday that was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Donovan Mitchell in a trade, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2022
A massive haul was expected to go back to Utah and there are a lot of moving parts in the trade as guard Collin Sexton and forwards Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji will go to Salt Lake City. A handful of draft picks will also go to Utah as the Jazz receive three unprotected picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 as well as the two teams swapping picks in 2026 and 2028.
The Jazz are taking the Oklahoma City Thunder and going for a full rebuild. They have already dealt center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and still have key assets on their team like guards Mike Conley Jr. and Jordan Clarkson as well as forward Bojan Bogdanović.
As for Cleveland, Mitchell joins a team that came just short of a trip to the playoffs last season after falling to the Atlanta Hawks in the battle for the No. 8 seed.
Mitchell is expected to join a starting lineup that consists of point guard Darius Garland and a pair of big men in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
The 2022-23 NBA season is scheduled to begin Oct. 18.
