Mitchell, Rubio are pumped to be teammates again, now with Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers undoubtedly made one of the biggest moves of the NBA offseason on Thursday, as they acquired Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz.

In the deal, Cleveland traded Collin Sexton (via sign-and-trade), Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps. For the further reported details of the trade, you can check those out here, for reference.

Mitchell, who had 25.9 points and 5.3 assists per game last season, is a player that brings an added star to a core for Cleveland which still consists of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, and three of those guys have already made All-Star teams. Mitchell, to that point, is a three-time All-Star, and he and Garland form a backcourt that has two big-time shot creators, and one of the game’s emerging young stars as a lead playmaker in Garland.

Now, the move is one that I’m not completely sold on at first glance, as in my opinion, Sexton was still a hell of a young scorer in his own right when healthy, albeit not with nearly the handle or range of Mitchell. Still, losing Markkanen hurts, particularly with how he did adjust pretty well to playing as a de facto 3 last season in what would be his lone year with Cleveland, and the combination of assets down the road, and Agbaji, was a sizeable haul for Utah. Picks aren’t nearly much of a corner now, but Utah has been on a mission in landing future picks.

From the Cavaliers’ perspective, I guess on the plus side, Mobley and Allen are still a terrific defensive frontcourt duo, Mobley looks to be a future star in his own right, and Garland will be receiving a ton of help in Mitchell. Mitchell is a better passer at this point than Sexton, too, for what it’s worth.

In any case, we’ll have to see what transpires in coming years, and the playoffs had to be the vision here, I would assume.

Anyways, as far as another positive from this, it is evident that Mitchell appears to be all the way bought-in, and recently, it was cool to see his former Jazz teammate, in Ricky Rubio, welcome his former teammate back, this time to Cleveland.

Here were a few tweets from Rubio, who was brought back earlier this offseason in free agency via three-year, $18.4 deal, with the third year partially-guaranteed. He’ll seemingly be back from a torn ACL in December/January, as an aside.

This one surely had to hit close with Cavs fans from Rubio.

This Mitchell response to the first tweet from Rubio had to really hit home with fans of the Wine and Gold, too.

Mitchell and Rubio are clearly pumped to be teammates once again, now with the Cavs.

Mitchell and Rubio were teammates in the former’s first two seasons in the league on the Jazz, and similarly to Garland last year, Rubio reportedly was invaluable for Mitchell in his development. The same was said to apply for Devin Booker in the 2019-20 season with the Phoenix Suns.

Rubio has never been the shooter of Garland or Mitchell, obviously, but Rubio’s mentorship with his approach to the game, and behind the scenes as a steady two-way presence seemingly has paid dividends for both young stars. That sort of thing clearly have to have played some into why Rubio was re-signed by Cleveland this offseason, and Rubio’s vision and creativity likely aided Garland’s playmaking ascension some.

With Mitchell, it was also apparent just how he and Rubio did seem to play well off of each other (diddo with Garland) for stretches with Utah, and I’d imagine that could resurface with Cleveland.

With Rubio’s vision, timing and precision as a passer (7.6 assists per game through 11 seasons), he’ll help Mitchell get some great off-ball looks, in the same way with Garland. Not to mention, Rubio’s defensive chops can still be very impactful for other backcourt guys, and just for the team in general, although this season we’ll have to see with him coming off the aforementioned ACL injury.

At any rate, as we’ve alluded to, with Rubio’s heady play, with how he just he just has a knack for getting others great looks and helps them establish a rhythm, it’s not hard to understand why Mitchell loved him as a teammate. Along with that, the leadership/locker room presence of Rubio (who turns 32 in October) seemingly has had a lasting impact on Mitchell, who turns 26 soon, and Garland, who will turn 23 this season.

As the tweets from both Rubio and Mitchell emphasized, both are pumped to be teammates once again, this time in Cleveland. And we should feasibly see that bond be fruitful for both on the floor when Rubio returns.