Donovan Mitchell (Getty Images via AFP)
NEW YORK – Three-time NBA All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was traded from the Utah Jazz to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday for three players and three NBA Draft picks, according to multiple reports.
The deal, reported by ESPN and The Athletic, comes two months after the Jazz moved superstar French big man Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cleveland will send Collin Sexton, Finnish 7-foot forward Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, a 22-year-old US guard and their top draft pick this year, as well as three future first-round picks plus two pick swaps to the Jazz.
Sexton, a 23-year-old US guard, will reportedly ink a four-year sign and trade deal worth $72 million on his way to the Jazz.
Neither club immediately confirmed the move but Mitchell, nicknamed Spider, retweeted Cleveland All-Star guard Darius Garland’s tweet “10 and (spider emoji)” with exclamation points.
Combined with the haul from the Gobert trade, the Jazz obtained seven first-round NBA Draft picks and three pick swaps from 2023-2029 as well as nine players, who of whom were 2022 first-round selections.
Mitchell averaged 25.9 points and 4.2 rebounds last season as well as career highs of 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals.
He joins a Cavaliers lineup with Garland and 2022 All-Star center Jarrett Allen and 2022 All-Rookie forward Evan Mobley.
The Jazz had winning seasons and went to the playoffs in each of Mitchell’s five years in Utah, but never reached the Western Conference finals and only twice reached the second round of the playoffs.
Mitchell signed a five-year contract extension worth $163 million in November 2020.
The Jazz reportedly had been looking at a deal with the New York Knicks involving Canadian forward R.J. Barrett.
As Mitchell’s trade to the Cavs was unveiled, the Knicks announced a contract extension for 22-year-old Barrett, Knicks president Leon Rose calling him “a core piece of our team’s foundation.”