I hope this rumor ends up being true. When the offseason began, I was firmly in favor of trading them both, but the Gobert trade changed everything in my eyes. I couldn’t have imagined the Jazz getting that kind of haul for Rudy and now it feels like we have plenty of assets to go forward hoping Donovan can reach 1 more level.
The players Utah got back from Minny are being drastically overlooked because most people assume that we’re tanking, but there’s some real benefit to having those guys around if the Jazz are able to grab another young star this offseason (thinking along the lines of Ayton). Vanderbilt is an ideal small ball 5 with a non stop motor, Beasly is pretty much better than Royce at everything, and Beverly is a culture shifter due to his defensive effort and passion. I REALLY want to see Donovan play a season with Beverly and see what effect that has on him.
I think we’ve learned enough in the last 2 weeks to say with certainty that Donovan had started tuning out Quin. I think with a new coach, a new roster around him, and the fact that he’s our franchise cornerstone all lead to Donovan looking like his old self. Besides, tanking is SO MUCH more miserable than most fans are giving it credit for. You spend 2-3 seasons watching dog **** basketball and every offseason, end up praying that the Jazz can draft/sign a couple of players that are as good as the guys you just got rid of. After all that, when you finally start to get good, you gotta hope that your new young stars want to stay here when they become good enough to get poached by a large market team.