As the Utah Jazz look toward a summer in which significant change is a possibility after their first-round playoff exit, a big question has been whether or not All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell might demand a trade.
On Tuesday as part of a large piece on the latest chatter surrounding the NBA offseason, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that Mitchell “is expected to remain committed” to the Jazz this summer.
In the same sentence, Fischer reported likewise for Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal.
The reporting came as Fischer was diving into the Atlanta Hawks’ summer outlook, and Fischer wrote “But if any trade request did arrive (from either Beal or Mitchell), the Hawks could create as strong an offer as any suitor,” although it is not clear whether or not Atlanta would have interest in Mitchell specifically.
No mention was made by Fischer in his piece about Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s future. Gobert, perhaps somewhat ironically, has been oft-discussed as a player the Hawks could target in a trade this summer.
Regarding Mitchell, some of the fuel on the question of whether he would demand a trade this summer was provided by Mitchell himself.
In his postgame press conference immediately after the Jazz were eliminated from the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, Mitchell was asked “Do you want to be in Utah?,” to which he replied “Yes,” but then just minutes later he was asked if he would ask out of Utah.
“For me, I just want to win, yo,” he said. “Like I said, I’ll think about it in a week, but right now, I’m not really thinking about any of that. And I said that during the year, I’m just not thinking about that.”
Mitchell has three years remaining on his contract plus a fourth year that is a player option. Per Spotrac, the deal will see him get paid nearly $30.4 million in the 2022-23 season.