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What if we had traded for Markkanen without giving up Mitchell?

ONE LOVE

ONE LOVE

#Baby_Talk
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We could have gotten Markkanen with a future first we got from T’wolves ..

Kessler
Bogdanovic
Markkanen
Mitchell
Conley

Clarkson, Vando, Beaseley off the bench

That’s at least a 52 win team that could have made noise in this year’s playoff right?

Have we missed a major chance at the Chip?
 
We would a average 150ppg and still lose by 10. A backourt of Conley, DM, JC + Bogie had no chance to defend in the playoffs. Kessler is nice but he hasn't been tested, so we have no clue how he would perform in the playoffs, particularly defending in the perimeter. So short answer: nope, i don't think that's a championship team due to the lack of defense.
 
latin jazz said:
We would a average 150ppg and still lose by 10. A backourt of Conley, DM, JC + Bogie had no chance to defend in the playoffs. Kessler is nice but he hasn't been tested, so we have no clue how he would perform in the playoffs, particularly defending in the perimeter. So short answer: nope, i don't think that's a championship team due to the lack of defense.
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We would also have had Vando dont forget. Markkanen is no slouch. Also the West is wide open this year.
 
We would've been one of the worst defensive teams in the entire league and got beat in the fist or second round of the playoffs for the 7th year in a row. Donovan would've then been traded in the offseason anyway because as Tim MacMahon and other reporters have said, the Jazz were aware that he wasn't going to re-sign in Utah once his contract was up.

The trade worked out very well for both sides, the Cavs got their star, and it turns out the Jazz got an all star in return plus Sexton, Ochai, 3 first round picks and 2 pick swaps. The Jazz have moved on, we should as well.
 
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I think the real question here is who would be great to pair alongside Markaanen and Donovan probably fits more than many players. Lauri is a two way player. Donovan's scoring and magnetism would make him more of a threat.

I was a bigger fan of building around Donovan than most on this board but all things considered, if he was planning on leaving anyways then we did fine. Let's move on and find the next guy to pair with Lauri. Pairing him with a 2 way wing like Mikal Bridges or Jaylen Brown or Tatum etc would be phenomenal. I would prefer that to Donovan, hands down.

What are the odds the Clippers blow things up this year? Would they reset with all of the Jazz's assets for PG and Kawhi? And would you trade a million draft picks and Sexton for both? How about Kawhi and Dame time for all the lovely assets? I am not sold on that sort of an option, but...the brilliance of Ainge's structure now is he can have those conversations daily and hand pick our big 3. We have 1 along with several role players. If we don't like your price then we can wait for draft picks.
 
The Jazz Wonderbra said:
I think the real question here is who would be great to pair alongside Markaanen and Donovan probably fits more than many players. Lauri is a two way player. Donovan's scoring and magnetism would make him more of a threat.

I was a bigger fan of building around Donovan than most on this board but all things considered, if he was planning on leaving anyways then we did fine. Let's move on and find the next guy to pair with Lauri. Pairing him with a 2 way wing like Mikal Bridges or Jaylen Brown or Tatum etc would be phenomenal. I would prefer that to Donovan, hands down.

What are the odds the Clippers blow things up this year? Would they reset with all of the Jazz's assets for PG and Kawhi? And would you trade a million draft picks and Sexton for both? How about Kawhi and Dame time for all the lovely assets? I am not sold on that sort of an option, but...the brilliance of Ainge's structure now is he can have those conversations daily and hand pick our big 3. We have 1 along with several role players. If we don't like your price then we can wait for draft picks.
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IMO - that's the kicker right there. He had soured on the organization/community and was almost assuredly gone in Free Agency. Trading him when we did was perfect in terms of maximizing return value.

Now we have Lauri Bird and an arsenal of draft capital to help build around him.
 
Markkanen wouldn’t be the player he is today playing next to Donovan. Donovan would have had too high of usage to fully develop Markkanen like he has been. Why would Cleveland have done that anyways? Why would we do it knowing Donovan is likely leaving in two years?
 
Don became largely overrated here, and although he gets the star treatment and can fill the box score, or go get the Cavs something on his own in the playoffs. They were actually better with the Finnisher in a lesser role on paper with Garland running all the offense. I think in the end the Cavs will never win a champonship with that back court. unless Mobley develops into a all NBA level player. He isn't that offensively at all. But I guess with how the Cavs misused the Finnisher who knows maybe they are not using Mobley right either.
Don would just take the usage away from the Finnisher so I don't see the Finnisher having an allstar season at all had Don still been here.
 
I would love to have seen that team.
 
Korisfani said:
For the Cavs Lauri was just some guy. Replaceable. An opportunity to play all three bigs but also a headache to play all three bigs. Still doubt it would've been just one 1st to get them to give him up.
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15 and 6 isnt just some guy. He wasnt as well used but he still might have been in line for a nice bumpage coming off a great Eurobasket. They wouldnt just sell him off for a first rounder.
 
Just purely playing what if, not pretending there was a snowball's chance in my pants of actually making the trade, then yes adding Lauri to the Jazz's previous iteration would have yielded a championship contender. The issue would remain though how Rudy and Mitchell could play together, would Lauri have made the same jump in performance he did this year regardless, and would Mitchell have crapped out on the team anyway. Those are tough questions to answer. I bet we would have been better, and maybe won more games, and maybe an extra playoff series, but I doubt we could have overcome all this that was already brewing and won the ring.
 
There are lots of options that would have made us a solid contender this year if we have kept Donny or Rudy.
 
I followed a few teams last year, and the Cavs were one of them. It’s pretty clear that Lauri was firmly in the Cavs’ future plans, and the Cavs wouldn’t have wanted to move him easily. Lauri’s game improved throughout the season considerably (as he learnt to play at 3) with the Cavs, and by the end of it, the FO considered him as a core piece for the Cavs. They wanted him to stay at 3, and Bickerstaff even went to Finland to check his training for it. And let’s not forget that when Lauri, Allen, and Mobley were on the court together, the Cavs’ numbers were near the top in the league, and they were 3rd in the standings in the East before the injuries began to derail their season. Also, Koby didn’t want to include Lauri in the Mitchell trade, but at the end Ainge was able have his way. I am pretty sure that Bickerstaff in particular, who probably knew Lauri’s game better than anyone, wasn’t happy to hear that he was traded.
 
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