NBA Trade Rumors, The Price for Donovan Mitchell is too high!

There has been quite a few NBA trade rumors rumors surrounding Donovan Mitchell this summer. And no wonder! With Utah trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, they are signaling that they are going to rebuild. However, with Utah getting four 1st round picks and a few quality players, the price to get Donovan Mitchell will be high. It has been rumored that general manager Danny Ainge wants a bigger haul for Mitchell. The price seems to be six or eight 1st round drafts picks plus players. Wow, that’s a steep price! Is it worth it?

Honestly, it is not worth it all and if a team pays that, they will be in for a rude awakening. He is not a Lebron James or a Steph Curry who would be your foundation piece to a championship team. No, you would need a lot more to put around Mitchell for the team to compete. However, any team that traded for him would have a hard time building around him with little draft capital and a depleted roster. Donovan Mitchell is not good enough to make up for the deficiencies on your roster. But he is a prolific scorer and is only 25 years old? True but here are my reasons why the trade price is too high.

NBA Trade Rumors, The Price for Donovan Mitchell is Too High – He’s a Volume Scorer

Last year Donovan Mitchell averaged 25.9 points per game which was 13th in the league. Pretty impressive! If you look at his shot attempts, he averaged 20.5 shot attempts and made 44.8 percent of his shots. That is a good percentage for shooting but shouldn’t his points be higher? You would think so but it is his three point shooting that brings him down. He shot 35.5 percent from three on 9.8 shots per game. That percentage is less than Lebron James and almost the same as Demar Derozen who are both not known for three point shooting. As a result, he needs a lot of shots to score. However, if he cut down on his three point shots, he would be more efficient.

Also, he averaged 5.3 assist per game but averaged three turnovers per game which is not a great ratio for a point guard. It also shows that Donovan Mitchell is more of a two guard then a point guard. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective and doesn’t really make others around him better. Is giving up 6 or 8 1st round draft picks worth getting a volume scorer? I think not!

NBA Trade Rumors, The Price for Donovan Mitchell is Too High – He’s a Horrible Defender

The Utah Jazz were the 9th best team in defensive rating last season. However, Utah’s wing players were terrible defenders and Donavan Mitchell was one of the worst on the whole team. Yes, he is only six foot one but he is very athletic and and has a good wing span. So, he should at least be a passable defender. But he is not and most of the team are not. So how were they so good defensively? Two words, Rudy Gobert! Yes, he was Utah’s defense. He blocked shots, provided rim protection, crowded passing lanes with his length and organized the defense. He did it all and they were effective because of that. However, part of the reason he wanted to be traded was because he was covering for Donovan Mitchell’s defensive liabilities too much and got tired of it. Also, that is why the Timberwolves overpaid to get him because he was that good defensively and despite this being a shooters league, defense still wins championships.

If you are going to trade for Donovan Mitchell, you better have an elite defensive big man that can cover all of his defensive lapses or have a bunch of good defenders surrounding him. Even then it might be enough. A good example of this is when the Raptors prior to their 2019 championship had Demar Derozen was their man guy. He scored a lot of points on similar volume shooting like Mitchell but his defense was bad. As a result, they could never get over the hump to get to the finals. However, by trading him for Kawhi Leonard, a two way player. The Raptors went to the finals and won the championship. If you are building your team around a wing player, they have to be an elite two way player like Kawhi, like Kobe, like Jordan and so on. Donavan Mitchell is a one way player. To give up so much for him would cripple your team. It’s not worth it!

Conclusion

The price for Donovan Mitchell is way too high! Any team who gives up all those draft picks risks their present and future. Danny Ainge likes to maximize his return on his trades. But six or eight 1st round draft picks is crazy! Donovan Mitchell is an elite one way player. However, a one way player cannot be your cornerstone. His time Utah proved that. They were good in the regular season but not good enough to go deep in the playoffs. In the playoffs, you need your best players to play defense. Donovan Mitchell doesn’t so he compromises his team. He also needs to take the most shots and doesn’t really make his team mates better. That is a recipe for disaster in the playoffs. If a team caves in to Utah’s trade demands, all I say is buyer beware!

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