Cavaliers Make It Official-Donovan Mitchell A Cav

Utah Jazz v Dallas Mavericks - Game One

Photo: (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired NBA All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. In exchange, Cleveland has sent guard Collin Sexton (via sign and trade), forward Lauri Markkanen, guard Ochai Agbaji and three future unprotected first round draft picks (2025, 2027, 2029) to Utah, while also agreeing to swap picks in 2026 and 2028.

“The acquisition of Donovan Mitchell presented us with an incredible opportunity to bring one of the NBA’s most dynamic young All-Stars to Cleveland,” said Altman. “Already a special and proven talent at just 25-years-old, Donovan brings a competitive mentality that organically fits with the core group of this team. We are excited to see the impact that someone of Donovan’s caliber can bring to the Cavaliers with his ability to score the basketball, but also make plays for his teammates. We welcome Donovan and his entire family to Northeast Ohio. I also want to thank Collin and Lauri for their contributions to our team as well as Ochai, who has a very promising future in this league. The Cavaliers have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for all three players and wish them and their families all the best in Utah.”

Mitchell (6-3, 215), who was a 2022 NBA All-Star, played in 67 games (all starts) for the Jazz last season while averaging 25.9 points (9th-best in NBA), 4.2 rebounds, a career-high 5.3 assists, and a career-best 1.5 steals in 33.8 minutes. He also made 3.6 three-pointers per contest, which was the fourth-highest in the league, and scored at least 20 points on 52 occasions and 30-plus points in 23 outings. Mitchell earned Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in December 2021, the first Jazz player to earn the accolade since Deron Williams in November 2010, and was the Western Conference Player of the Week for Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2021. Additionally, he averaged 12.4 points as the ball-handler in pick-and-roll plays (2nd-best in NBA) and had the highest effective field goal percentage (.538) of the top five players in that category. Mitchell’s 232 three-pointers were tied for seventh in the NBA and was the fifth straight season he had knocked down over 170 threes. On March 16 versus Chicago, he connected on a career-best nine three-pointers and scored 37 points, including 25 points in the third quarter, tying the Jazz franchise record for a single period.

A three-time NBA All-Star (2020-22), Mitchell owns career averages of 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.7 minutes over 345 games (337 starts) in five NBA seasons, all with Utah. He leaves the Jazz ranking second in their team’s history in three-pointers made (958) and eighth in points scored (8,234). Mitchell is also just the sixth player in NBA history to total over 8,000 points, 1,500 assists and 1,400 rebounds through their first career 345 contests, joining LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich and Oscar Robertson. The 6-3 guard has also reached the playoffs in all five of his NBA seasons, appearing in 39 total postseason games (all starts) with averages of 28.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.18 steals in 37.0 minutes per contest. An NBA All-Rookie First Team selection (2018) and NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (2018), Mitchell was originally selected by Denver as the No. 13 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft before being traded to the Jazz on draft night.

Sexton (6-1, 192), who appeared in 11 games (all starts) with the Cavaliers last season before missing the final 71 contests due to a left knee meniscus tear, finished the 2021-22 campaign with averages of 16.0 points, a career-high 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.91 steals in 28.7 minutes. Selected as the No. 8 overall pick by Cleveland in the 2018 NBA Draft, Sexton owns career averages of 20.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four NBA seasons with the Cavaliers.

Markkanen (7-0, 238) was acquired by Cleveland in a sign and trade agreement from the Chicago Bulls on August 28, 2021. In his lone season with the Cavaliers (2021-22), Markkanen played in 61 games (all starts), averaging 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.74 steals in 30.8 minutes. Markkanen owns career averages of 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in 29.7 minutes during his five NBA seasons (four with Chicago and one with Cleveland).

Agbaji (6-5, 215) was selected by the Cavaliers with the 14th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Agbaji started in all 39 games this past season as a senior at Kansas, averaging a Big-12 leading 18.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in a team-high 35.0 minutes. Agbaji was named the 2022 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and also finished as a 2021-22 consensus All-American First Team selection, the 2021-22 Big-12 Player of the Year and Big-12 Male Athlete of the Year.


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