Should we trade for Donovan Mitchell?

[Darkhorse985]

We know KD is not coming here, but should we attempt to trade for Mitchell who is on a much cheaper contract and on a team mainly looking for draft picks?

Donovan Mitchell, Jarred Vanderbilt

For

Hayes, Graham, Temple, Daniels, and 4 unprotected 1sts ( Pels 2023, Lakers 2024/2025, Pels 2025, Bucks 2027)

How would Donovan fit on this team?

Lineup

PG: McCullum/Alvarado/Lewis
SG: Mitchell/Murphy
SF: Ingram/Jones/Marshall
PF: Zion/Vanderbilt
C: Valanciunas/Nance Jr./Hernangomez

Talk about loaded if this could happen.

[donato]

I'm in.

[Fedupfan]

If that’s the trade, then of course. You are trading 4 non rotational players for a star.

[PELICANSFAN]

Not sure Mitchell would fit. He is so ball dominant and we have CJ, BI and Zion. I would think he would have to replace CJ for him to fit in. Would it be worth paying the tax for that?

[pelafanatic]

Not sure Mitchell would fit. He is so ball dominant and we have CJ, BI and Zion. I would think he would have to replace CJ for him to fit in. Would it be worth paying the tax for that?

I think the FO waits and plays it super patient with this core. The only way they venture out for a star is if a big that fits becomes available, imo. No sources on this, but I do think they will wait patiently for a Jokic or Adebayo to hit the market, and otherwise they would roll with this squad and see what happens

Bam feels like the guy to watch

[Upper Decker]

I think the FO waits and plays it super patient with this core. The only way they venture out for a star is if a big that fits becomes available, imo. No sources on this, but I do think they will wait patiently for a Jokic or Adebayo to hit the market, and otherwise they would roll with this squad and see what happens

Bam feels like the guy to watch

I agree with all this. Let's not monkey with this squad until we see what they can (and cannot) do on the court.

However, Bam seems like a Heat lifer. I'm from South Florida originally and follow the Heat. They're a DISTANT second favorite NBA for me. That Heat Culture stuff seems corny, but it is real. Bam seems like he's bought in.

[pelafanatic]

I agree with all this. Let's not monkey with this squad until we see what they can (and cannot) do on the court.

However, Bam seems like a Heat lifer. I'm from South Florida originally and follow the Heat. They're a DISTANT second favorite NBA for me. That Heat Culture stuff seems corny, but it is real. Bam seems like he's bought in.

I think there's going to be a chance he's traded for as long as he's on that designated rookie contact

[Sovereign]

Mitchell is not a fit with this roster

[MG3n2K9]

Don't see the need to recreate one of the big problems with Portland by pairing two small starting guards that are a minus on defense.

[rocketfox]

I think the FO waits and plays it super patient with this core. The only way they venture out for a star is if a big that fits becomes available, imo. No sources on this, but I do think they will wait patiently for a Jokic or Adebayo to hit the market, and otherwise they would roll with this squad and see what happens

Bam feels like the guy to watch

That makes sense. We need a defensive big more than we need a small guard.

Spida very talented but not a great fit with CJ.

[donato]

You can always stagger them at 32 minutes each. That would make it where only half the time they are on the court together, but at all times at least one of them would be.

[Eman5805]

If we're adding another ball dominant big contract player...I'd flips those assets and Mitchell at Brooklyn and see if that can somehow net us Durant.

Also, pretty sure we can't trade Daniels for 60 days since he just signed his rookie contract.

[JJackisangry]

This would really put us in luxury tax hell wouldn’t it? As others said I question the fit and I’d prefer a little more versatility. Nothing against Mitchell.

[Sovereign]

If we're adding another ball dominant big contract player...I'd flips those assets and Mitchell at Brooklyn and see if that can somehow net us Durant.

Also, pretty sure we can't trade Daniels for 60 days since he just signed his rookie contract.

Exactly, if you can get Mitchell why stop there when you know what BKN wants for KD?

[Darkhorse985]

Exactly, if you can get Mitchell why stop there when you know what BKN wants for KD?

Because KD doesn’t want to be in Nola, has played about as many games as Zion the past 3 years, is 34, and is known to be a culture killer.

[Eman5805]

Because KD doesn’t want to be in Nola, has played about as many games as Zion the past 3 years, is 34, and is known to be a culture killer.

How do you know that?

[Pelicanidae]

I think without Gobert there cleaning up a lot of his mistakes, Mitchell is going to find certain parts of his mainstream evaluation suffering badly this year. He hasn't been a good defender during his time in the NBA but it's been largely mitigated by Utah's overall very good regular season defense, obviously backlined by an incredibly paint protector. One part of the reason that said protector, Gobert, was less effective in the playoffs is matchup hunting - it's hard to defend the rim consistently enough to really anchor a defense if your perimeter cannot contain anything, and in the playoffs, those perimeter holes get hunted down and exploited. Mitchell is one of them. Dude can't defend any competent attacker and is entirely disinterested off-ball.

I would not want to cash in any considerable assets to commit to someone who I don't view as being truly difference making in the context of this team. As others have mentioned, we have tons of elite on-ball creators and scorers. Obviously it's nice to have an embarrassment of riches but at some point you have to address the other parts of the game to some extent, and Mitchell just introduces new problems while also being so expensive in terms of the likely trade package required that it would be extremely hard to patch them back up again.

I'd pass.

[Darkhorse985]

How do you know that?

There was an article that came out recently stating that. Is it 100% true? who knows? But, the other reasons are good enough for me.

[Sovereign]

Because KD doesn’t want to be in Nola

You don't know this

has played about as many games as Zion the past 3 years

He came back and dominated after a missing a chunk of games in the middle of those 2 seasons

is 34,

So?

and is known to be a culture killer.

Either we have an actually good culture that can withstand guys with an edge or we don't (and I believe 99% of what fans don't like about KD come from twitter interactions, memes, or other very unserious bs)

[Pelicanidae]

Regardless of your thoughts on whether KD is a ''culture killer'' or not, or whether he wants to be here or not (I have no idea either way, not claiming to know) - you can't seriously be pretending not to understand why KD being 34 matters, right? You have to know that being 34 years old is a factor in the career arc of a basketball player.

[rocketfox]

A thread chain by someone who worked in Utah

CAA/Donovan Mitchell:
https://twitter.com/austinhorton/sta...26765622775808

[Savvy_Bird]

I don’t understand the KD “culture killer” thing. When has he ever killed the culture of his team?

In OKC he signed a 5 year max and played the whole contract, and at the time was the model for the NBA in how superstars should act with their home market.

In golden state, he signed (for less than his max) and played out 3 full contracts with them. I know there were issues at the end with draymond green, but the culture of that team his entire time was about winning and being excellent.

In Brooklyn, I understand the criticism. He did assert his influence a ton, which basically made the organization an AAH team. Before he got there they had an excellent thing going, then they traded all their young talent and changed coaches. However, the organization signed on to do that and kyrie had a ton to do with all the failure.

[Sovereign]

Regardless of your thoughts on whether KD is a ''culture killer'' or not, or whether he wants to be here or not (I have no idea either way, not claiming to know) - you can't seriously be pretending not to understand why KD being 34 matters, right? You have to know that being 34 years old is a factor in the career arc of a basketball player.

He was a top 5 player last year, show me evidence of age related decline instead of asking me silly questions

[Sovereign]

I don’t understand the KD “culture killer” thing. When has he ever killed the culture of his team?

In OKC he signed a 5 year max and played the whole contract, and at the time was the model for the NBA in how superstars should act with their home market.

In golden state, he signed (for less than his max) and played out 3 full contracts with them. I know there were issues at the end with draymond green, but the culture of that team his entire time was about winning and being excellent.

In Brooklyn, I understand the criticism. He did assert his influence a ton, which basically made the organization an AAH team. Before he got there they had an excellent thing going, then they traded all their young talent and changed coaches. However, the organization signed on to do that and kyrie had a ton to do with all the failure.

Because snake memes bro

[Pelicanidae]

He was a top 5 player last year, show me evidence of age related decline instead of asking me silly questions

That's not the point at all, and you know it. He's 34 and has had several lower body injuries over the last several years that have caused him to miss plenty of time. It is absolutely not a guarantee that he plays 60+ games every year going forward as a combination of those factors, and it's also absolutely not a given that he will maintain the quality of play he currently has towards the end of his contract which - as we all remember - is another several years.

The possibility that he might manage to stay healthy, and that he might keep playing well until he's 38 certainly exists. There's a reality where that could happen. But you can't just pretend like anyone expressing scepticism over them is being silly - there are also very real universes where he never manages to be fully healthy again.

As for ''show me evidence of age related decline'' - watch the games. It's been widely acknowledged that despite still being a top player, Durant today is not the same impact player as Durant 5 years ago - which isn't a sin, it's natural. But there's a reason that Durant has posted wins-added of 4.3 and 8.3 in the last two years when he had posted seasons of 13.2, 12.7, and 10.3 over the handful of years prior. It's the first time he's ever posted consecutive single digit wins added seasons in his career. There's a reason that 2020-21 and 2021-22 are two of the three lowest LEBRON seasons in his career. There's a reason that his 2020-21 and 2021-22 RAPTOR grades are the two lowest he's received since 2015.

Just to clarify: I'm not claiming that any of the grades he's received or the stats he's garnered in these seasons have been bad stats. 8.3 Wins Above Replacement last year is still a top 15 player. But it's not a top 3 player anymore, which is what he used to be. His recent LEBRON metric scores are still top 10 in the NBA! He's still an extremely powerful player, particularly on offense. Nobody is denying that. But to act like the impact he's having in 2022 is on the level he was putting up when he was in his first few years in Golden State is just not reflected in any of the stats. He has clearly taken a slight step down. Which, again, is to be expected when you are in your mid-30s even without the injury, and the injury very much did happen!