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SALT LAKE CITY — As it turns out, at least from the perspective of playoff success, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were no better separated than they were together.
Both of their new teams suffered disappointing first-round exits, which was the same fate during three of the five seasons they played together for the Jazz. The team was bounced in the second round the other two years.
Contrary to the sentiments of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who claimed his top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks' recent loss to No. 8 seed Miami Heat was not a failure, it sure looked like the two teams that acquired Mitchell and Gobert failed. Round one, acknowledging the opportunity for better results in the coming years, was not good for Mitchell's Cleveland Cavaliers and Gobert's Minnesota Timberwolves.
A future championship for either team would change perspective, but for now the Jazz clearly won both trades. In total, the acquisitions essentially directly netted the Jazz salary cap flexibility, seven draft choices (not counting multiple pick swaps) and four players: All-Star Lauri Markkanen, rookie first-team center Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji.
As the eighth seed, Minnesota's loss to the Denver Nuggets was expected. The bigger surprise was the team's lackluster season, but some of that can be attributed to Karl-Anthony Towns missing 53 games due to injury.
Losing in five games to the fifth-seed New York Knicks, the fourth-seeded Cavs have no excuses. Mitchell had moments of success, but he scored only 11 points in the Game 4 loss in his hometown of New York.
"For me personally," Mitchell told reporters after the series ended, "I don't feel like I was the player I needed to be for this group. That's what's going to keep me up at night. I've done it all year, you know what I mean? So, I just didn't deliver like I expected myself to, my teammates and everybody expects me to."
Cleveland has Mitchell under contract for another two years, after which he has a player option and can become a free agent. A fair amount of speculation continues to link him to the Knicks, the team Mitchell thought the Jazz were trading him to last summer.
His possible departure to a new team could bode well for the Jazz, who own Cleveland's first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 and will swap draft positions in 2026 and 2028. Like the Jazz, which knew Mitchell would play out his contract, the Cavs management probably will seek a trade rather than letting him walk for nothing.
"Mitchell didn't choose Cleveland," The Athletic reported. "He was sent here when he thought he was going to New York. Mitchell has been a model teammate during his time here. ... Nevertheless, talk has persisted in league circles throughout this season that he will indeed go to New York at his first opportunity. The Cavs knew the score when they made the deal and now they're in a difficult spot."
Minnesota also could have similar concerns with the former three-time defensive player of the year. Numerous outlets speculated Gobert is not a good fit with the Timberwolves.
For his part, Gobert, who was suspended in Minnesota's play-in game after an altercation with teammate Kyle Anderson during the final regular-season game, took a positive approach during his exit interview. He called his first season with Minnesota a time of great growth.
"I haven't really been able to be dominant as I know I can become and really be able to try to reach my full potential," he said. "I know I have more gears that I can get to, and that's why it's exciting for me to do that and I'm going to do whatever it takes to try to get to that level."
