Donovan Mitchell was the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He was selected by the Denver Nuggets but on the draft night itself, he was traded to the Utah Jazz.

Teams were probably wondering why the Jazz chased after the Louisville standout. Recently, it was revealed that back in the pre-draft workouts, the Jazz were already impressed by Mitchell's talent, and went in so far as warning their employees not to say a word about it.

Per Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey recalled Mitchell's pre-draft workout:

“I’m not even sure the kid knew that he was performing to the degree that he was performing,” Lindsey said with a smile. “Look, workouts are workouts. Three-on-three is not the same basketball as five-on-five . . . [but] I think as much as anything it gave us some confirmation that a few things that we were picking up live and on video and statistically, you know he showed that not only was he a good player but that he was almost growing by the day.”

David Locke, the Jazz's radio play-by-play man — who also saw Mitchell's performance, revealed that Lindsey went in so far as telling his staff to remain quiet:

“One of the guys [Lindsey] works with came over,” Locke said, “and literally was like, ‘Dennis wants to make it clear, if any word about this workout gets out, you’re fired. Everyone. You’re fired.’

Lindsey himself did not deny Locke's story. Even if he did, the array of moves they did during draft night speaks volumes about how they were desperate to get him:

“There was a little bit of desperation in trying to secure his rights,” Lindsey said.