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The Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Jazz to land superstar center Rudy Gobert on Friday, July 1, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, which might’ve thrown a huge wrench into the Miami Heat‘s longterm goal of obtaining Utah guard Donovan Mitchell.
On Thursday, The New York Daily News reporter Kristian Winfield wrote of the 25-year-old guard possibly landing in Miami this offseason, “The Heat are a more likely landing spot for Donovan Mitchell and have furnished a trade offer to the Utah Jazz.
“In an April 2022 episode of the Certified Buckets podcast, New York City hip-hop legend Fat Joe told me he is close to Mitchell and that Mitchell’s dream is playing for Miami, not his hometown Knicks,” Winfield noted.
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With the Jazz trading Royce O’Neil to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, and Gobert to the Timberwolves on Friday, it seemed like a Mitchell trade was on deck, that at any minute, a new report would announce that the three-time All-Star was finally heading to Miami. However, Wojnaroski’s latest report succinctly killed such hopes.
“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,” Wojnarowski tweeted. “The Jazz plan to retool the roster around All-Star G Donovan Mitchell.”
Analysts Expressed Strong Apprehension Over Whether Mitchell Will Be Happy Staying in Utah
Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman expressed the reaction of many people after reading Wojnarowski’s report tweeting, “So Donovan Mitchell will wait around for all those picks to come to fruition?”
Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang also sounded dubious. “Looks like Utah’s plan, for now, includes Donovan Mitchell,” Chiang tweeted. “Seems like the Jazz will try to turn all the picks they just acquired into impactful players.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhort took a more direct approach in his assessment of Mitchell’s situation following the Gobert trade. Windhorst said, “Talking to league executives who saw some of this coming, they think it would be abnormal for Donovan [Mitchell] to not want out at this point. There are teams out there who are now revving up the possibility of calling Utah.”
On June 28, Bleacher Report‘s Doric Sam wrote of Mitchell, he’s “reportedly been frustrated in Utah for quite some time. He raised eyebrows Monday by posting the image of a song titled Let Me Go’ on his Instagram story. This month when former Utah head coach Quin Snyder resigned, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Mitchell was “unsettled, unnerved and wondering what it means for the franchise’s future.”
While the Jazz hired Will Hardy, 34, as their new head coach, as reported by ESPN, Mitchell has not yet publicly commented Hardy’s hire.
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Mitchell Has Been Spending Quality Time During the Offseason With Jimmy Butler
Earlier this month, trade rumors regarding Mitchell resurfaced after NBA Skills coach Chris Brickley shared photos of Heat star Jimmy Butler and Mitchell sitting next to each other at his birthday party on Instagram, pictures which quickly went viral on social media.
Brickley trains with both Mitchell and Butler, so it’s easy to understand why both ballers were at his party. While Carmelo Anthony was also in attendance, seeing Butler and Mitchell all chummy definitely raised some eyebrows on social media.
A Heat fan tweeted, “Help is on the way,” while a Celtics fan got worried and wrote, “Thats not good. Smh. The East would belong to them. Boston better win this year. They will never get another chance.”
If things don’t pan out with Kevin Durant, maybe the Heat can still pull off a trade to bring Mitchell, who averaged 25.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game last season, to Miami.
As for a possible trade proposal, Chiang and Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson suggest the Heat offer up Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven, Tyler Herro and a first-round pick in exchange for Mitchell.
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