Cavs News: Mitchell returns, regrading the trade, Rubio close
In June 2017, the Utah Jazz made a bold move to trade up into the 13th pick and take a raw athletic guard from Louisville named Donovan Mitchell. He immediately made a difference, averaging 20.5 points per game and leading a playoff team in scoring. He would play five full seasons in Utah, averaging 23.9 points per game and making three All-Star appearances.
Now Mitchell plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers and is having the best season of his career, scoring 28.8 points per game. He was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season after dropping 71 points on the Chicago Bulls, and he is in line to start for the All-Star Game next month that will be held in his old home of Salt Lake City.
Before he returns next month, however, Mitchell is back in Utah tonight for the very first time since the trade on September 1st sent him to Cleveland. The Jazz have played above expectations but are falling back to earth now, while the Cavs continue to soar. Will Mitchell put on a show for his former fans? How will they receive him?
More Cavs news
Continuing the nostalgic run, we dug back into the Mitchell trade that sent potential All-Star Lauri Markkanen to the Jazz and Mitchell to the Cavs. With a few months and half of the season behind us, how would we regrade each team in the deal?
Also on the site, Dan Gilinsky kept the trade talk going with a pair of low-cost wing trade targets for the Cavs. Do the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic have something to offer?
Finally, Ricky Rubio continues to near his return. The one-year anniversary of his ACL tear was in the last week of December, and per Cavaliers’ head coach JB Bickerstaff is “really close” to returning. The Cavaliers aren’t desperate for his services, but his steady hand and energy will only improve an up-and-down bench unit.
NBA news
The Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls played a fun back-and-forth affair that ended in a Celtics win, while elsewhere in the East the Milwaukee Bucks came back from down 17 and Jrue Holiday hit some big shots to give the Bucks the win over the New York Knicks. In the West, the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans all won to keep that top tier competitive in the standings.
The more impactful news was that of Kevin Durant’s injury timetable. He was diagnosed with an MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. The Cavs will hope to make up ground on the Nets over that stretch and don’t play Brooklyn again until late in March. Hopefully, Durant will be back by then.
Coming up: Tonight in Utah, the homecoming of one Donovan Mitchell.