Grading Cavs’ trade for Donovan Mitchell from all angles: The Picks
The Cleveland Cavaliers included three completely unprotected picks in this deal, as well as two unprotected pick swaps. That essentially means that the Utah Jazz control the draft for the Cavs from 2025 to 2029. Added on to the massive haul they got in the Rudy Gobert deal, and the Jazz are positively flush with picks for the next decade.
There are two key dates necessary to evaluate the value of these picks. The first is July 1st, 2025. That’s when Donovan Mitchell could decline his player option and hit unrestricted free agency; the Jazz are betting that he will and that the Cavs will then have a lot of disaster potential and make those picks lucrative ones.
The other date? June 18, 2001. That’s the day that Evan Mobley was born, which means he will still be only 28 years old when the Cavs convey their final draft pick from this trade. Given his trajectory and the ages of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen too, even if MItchell walks this team will still be very good. If Mitchell stays? These picks are nothing-burgers, late-round fliers that may have yielded a rotation player once but aren’t going to cripple a contending Cavs squad.
It’s a lot of picks, and it limits the Cavs’ flexibility moving forward. Yet there is a very good chance each of these picks and swaps land in the 20s, and so the “unprotected” label is largely irrelevant. There is always some amount of downside, but given the ages of the Cavs’ core that downside is incredibly small.
Grade: B