Last week in the world of the NBA a blockbuster trade was announced, which saw All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Utah Jazz.
Mitchell has been in heavy trade rumors the past several weeks with many believing he will find his way back home in New York to play for the Knicks.
However, after recently trading center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jazz General Manager Danny Ainge has completed his rebuild of the team by trading Utah’s best two players, Mitchell and Gobert, for a plethora of first-round draft picks.
But what does this latest trade mean for the Cavaliers for the upcoming NBA season, adding an All-Star like Mitchell to an exciting young core that boasts young exciting talent in Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen?
FanDuel’s episode of ‘Covering The Spread’ attempts to gauge Cleveland’s standing in the Eastern Conference and whether Mitchell will help this team to further compete for a possible NBA championship.
The Cavs’ title odds significantly jumped from +10000 (100/1) to +3300 (33/1) after the Mitchell trade was announced, according to FanDuel sportsbook. But guest Tom Vecchio believes the new-look Cavs roster is the ‘fourth best team in the East’ behind the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.
Along with strong contenders such as the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets, the Eastern Conference seeding ‘pull’ next year come playoff time may have to be kind to the Cavaliers in order to reach their ceiling, which Vecchio believes can be the Eastern Conference Finals.
Despite not being tempted at the new +3300 price to win it all, Vecchio is bullish on the Cavs’ young talent in particularly Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, enticed by the 49/1 odds for either to win next season’s Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Garland had a breakout year last season with almost all of his stats elevating to a point to where he was named an All-Star for the first time, whilst Mobley impressed so much his rookie season it looked a lock for him to win the Rookie of the Season award, only to narrowly miss out to Scottie Barnes due to injuries late in the season.
Drafted by the Utah Jazz in 2017, Donovan Mitchell has developed into one of the best shooting guards in the league, averaging 24 (PTS), 4 (REB), 5 (AST) for his career so far.
‘Spida’ has also become a trusted performer in the playoffs, averaging just over 28 points per playoff game and shined in a 61 point defeat in 2020 to the Denver Nuggets, the joint second-highest points in a playoff game in NBA history.
