Getty Image / Alex Goodlett
From the moment that the Utah Jazz made Donovan Mitchell available for a trade, basketball fans assumed that he would end up with the New York Knicks. Now, it seems that assumption may have actually hurt the Knicks.
The Jazz ended up trading Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers today.
Full trade: Utah is trading Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland for Lauri Markkanen, Ochair Agbaji, Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 1, 2022
According to a report from Fox Sports’ Ric Bucher, the Jazz were ready to take a worse offer than the last one the Knicks made out of spite because of their brazen pursuit of Mitchell.
Utah Jazz didn’t take New York Knicks’ last offer out of spite
Told last week that Jazz, ticked that NYK were so brazen in their pursuit of DMitchell, would take a lesser deal elsewhere out of spite. Appears so. Last NYK offer: RJ, Quickley, NYK unprotected 1st rd picks in '24 & '26, swap rights in '25 & '27, '25 MIL 1st rder & 2 2nd picks.
— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) September 1, 2022
It looks like Danny Ainge has been learning some of his negotiating tactics from Jerry Seinfeld.
That decision may prove to be a costly one for the Jazz. While they got a solid haul from the Cavs that included an extra young piece in Ochai Agbaji, RJ Barrett was probably the most significant piece in either of these trade offers.
Barrett is already turning into a star who may have turned into the centerpiece of their franchise. Markkanen and Sexton are nice players, but neither is quite Barrett.
This move was a long-term move for the Jazz, so there is plenty of time for their move to prove to be the right one, but right now it looks like they settled out of spite. Maybe they should see if spite is an eligible reason for a refund.
Follow BroBible on Google News for more!