One Western Conference exec has high praise for Utah Jazz shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. The anonymous executive told Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report that Mitchell reminds him of LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Dwyane Wade.
The front office guy also mentioned how he doesn't think the Jazz can build around Rudy Gobert if they are forced to trade Mitchell (which doesn't appear to be in the cards).
“Donovan Mitchell is on the level of Dwyane Wade, Stephen Curry and LeBron James as far as he can be your leader on and off the court,” a Western Conference executive says. “He can be the face of your franchise. But I don't know if that can happen with Rudy there because he was the incumbent.”
Mitchell has established himself as one of the best young scorers in the NBA. The high-flyer is averaging 24.2 points per game in 2019-20 and has career averages of 22.7 points in 219 regular-season games with the Jazz.
Utah is expected to sign Mitchell to a lucrative rookie-scale extension this offseason. It appears Mitchell and Gobert are going to be able to coexist moving forward, at least on the court, despite what transpired in March. Gobert contracted COVID-19 and was touching players' belongings in the locker room before his positive test was revealed and the NBA's season was suspended.
The Jazz would be foolish to trade Gobert even if Mitchell tells management he doesn't want to play with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Stars in the NBA don't necessarily have to get along for teams to win. As long as Mitchell and Gobert are doing what they need to do on the court, Utah should be fine.
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