Just over a year after the Donovan Mitchell-Lauri Markkanen swap, each player has delivered record-breaking performances for their new club while pointing them in a positive direction. The Finnisher (Markkanen) tallied over 200 3-point makes plus 100 dunks and received 1.64 million All-Star votes, placing him fifth among Western Conference frontcourt players. Spida (Mitchell) dropped 71 points, the most ever for a Cleveland Cavaliers player in the regular season and, tied for sixth all-time, and earned a Second Team All-NBA selection as he helped drive Cleveland to 51 wins.
Both squads appear content with their shining new All-Stars. Yet, the probability of the deal getting done again for the same price is as high as Dan Gilbert making a sincere apology, Draymond Green rediscovering how to score, or James Harden showing up in the playoffs when his team needs him. Cleveland and Utah each got the goods, but the former massively overpaid.
The deal included Utah getting multiple pick swaps and unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 with Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton and Markkanen. Cleveland got Mitchell.
It’s safe to say the Cavaliers’ front office had no idea Markkanen was the gunslinger who played for Finland in Eurobasket 2022, even with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff inspecting up close overseas for the tournament and during the season with the Cavaliers. Had the decision-makers understood that he deserved more than 11.5 shots a game, I’m not convinced he’d be traded for a player who isn’t that much better than him, with three unprotected FRPs.*
A team that moves more than one FRP in a deal better thrust itself into contention because not having that ammo will hurt later. Justifying the move by pointing out that the picks will be late in the first round ignores the fact that NBA scouting is a joke. Talent falls every year into the latter stages of the opening round, and into the second, even sometimes value is found in the undrafted lot.
Don’t believe me? In the 2022 NBA Draft, Tari Eason (pick 17) and Walker Kessler (pick 22) earned rookie team honors, and they were selected outside the lottery. Three-time high school champ and singular collegiate winner Christian Braun was taken 21st and played a pivotal role for the Denver Nuggets in capturing its first title. Former Gator and Bulldog Andrew Nembhard, chosen 31st, was seventh in total minutes for rookies with the Indiana Pacers.
In 2021, the Knicks got Quentin Grimes in a trade at #25 on the board. He started 72 combined games for New York in 2022-2023. Pesky defender Herb Jones’ name was called in round two (pick 35) by the New Orleans Pelicans. Only 10 players, Jones included, have over 200 steals recorded in the last two seasons. Jose Alvardo, undrafted, signed with NOLA too and established himself as a viscid defender and inked a four-year deal.
Get the point? All of those guys could help a team win, and they weren’t clamored for. By the way, someone warn Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn that Cam Thomas, pick 29, is wasting away on the bench.
So how did each squad grade out?
Let’s begin with Utah.
The Jazz’s Grade
Regarding the trade for Utah, Markkanen is a 7-foot three-level assassin who just entered his prime and won the league’s Most Improved Player Award. He was 16th in total points scored and 29th in rebounding. He also gets fouled on 13.3% of his attempts, putting him in the 81st percentile for forwards, per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required).
One of Markkanen’s most admired habits is his willingness to catch a body at the rim, big or small. He has guard skills, too, handling after the catch in the halfcourt or in transition. His versatility could get him minutes at both forward spots and center.
Sexton competed in 48 games last season, but he wasn’t himself yet in his first campaign back from a left meniscus tear 11 games into 2021-2022. Despite a recovering year plagued with an injury bug, he could still create separation with his first step and finished well in the paint non-restricted area and the midrange. Sexton is a nice adrenaline shot off the bench for any squad.
Ogbaji suited up 59 nights, averaging 20.5 minutes per game on a rebuilding team. He is a promising shooting guard who runs the open court well and puts pressure on defenses by moving without the ball and canning a decent clip from deep (35.5).
The Jazz got a certified building block for the future, two nice players and a stash of draft capital. Those picks are unprotected, so Cleveland can’t afford to have injury-filled years then and miss the postseason. The deal is as good as it gets in return for a star player.
Jazz Grade: A+
Anything below an A+ is unfair, and next year, the minimum expectations for the group should be a Play-In appearance.
The Cavs Grade
For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell is a guard, also lethal attacking anywhere on the court. He is only eight-and-a-half months older than Markkanen too.
Mitchell was the bus driver for 2022-2023, the best season the Cavaliers had since LeBron James left in 2018. Between October and April, he averaged 28.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 83 percent of the team’s games. He was arguably the best player at his position for that time, but he wasn’t as good in the playoffs, missing shots he made all season against drop coverage.
Defensively, he wasn’t sharp either, getting beat by the handler and, because he is undersized, was caught in mismatches.
The Cavaliers improved by seven wins (51) in the regular season, earning fourth place in the East. A quick end at the hands of the New York Knicks has heavily weighted Cleveland’s re-grading.
Cavs Grade: C
Considering what the outfit gave up for Spida and its underwhelming exit from the playoffs, an appropriate mark is a C.
If only this were as simple as picking one star over the other. That’s a question of basketball taste, but in reality, the extras in the exchange plunge the scale to the side of Utah here.