I admit - that "losing interest" part was overreaction. I love how Mitchell plays, and this move will probably put us in the top four in the Eastern Conference. Both Garland and Mitchell have played well with Rubio before.
But I am surprised to see the haul Utah has managed for a player who may not be top-20 in the league. Mitchell is a fantastic player - no doubt - but THREE unprotected FRPs for him?!! It seems similar to the housing market in the recent past - if you're a seller, just name a price - any price!
I mean, it's like the inflation has creeped in in the NBA trading market, too. May be Fox 'News' was right all along - this inflation is like none other!
There is also the question of fit. How would another 6-1 guy fit in? Every team and situation is different, but such small back courts never become real title contenders. And if that is not our goal - and we just want to make some noise in the play-offs - couldn't we wait to see what the pre-trade roster could achieve?
Lastly, "because Sexton is gone" is not the only, or even the main, concern. The concern is that we mortgaged the future for a questionable fit even though he is a great player. Also, more than Sexton, I wanted to see how Ochai would pan out.
1- I am not here to get into a Sexton debate again but we just dumped a net-negative defender who was average-at-best in terms of efficiency on the offensive end. He is not nearly as important to this team's future as people made him out to be and I don't think he's capable of being a productive player if he's not dominating the ball. The other side of that, if he is dominating the ball, it's not a good thing because it's not conducive to winning. I genuinely think it's addition by subtraction just getting him off the roster.
2 - I don't think Utah's haul is that impressive especially considering it seems like they turned down a better package from the Knicks and especially since they pulled 4 1st rounders for Gobert. You already know how I feel about Sexton. I like Lauri and Ochai (I was a big fan of the Ochai selection), but they are absolutely expendable in this deal. The first round picks? I'd have to imagine the Cavs believe by adding Mitchell, those picks hold little value given the makeup of the roster and 3 picks past the 20 mark is going to likely net them maybe one valuable NBA player based on the odds.
I also don't get caught up in the height factor when it comes to players like this. NBA champions come out of creating their own style and narrative. People thought you couldn't win without a quality post player until the Bulls came along. MJ couldn't win a title being the player he was (ball hog, not the greatest teammate early on, low efficiency jump shooter) and he ended up becoming the greatest ever. The guy who coached that team to 6 titles and Lakers to 5 more came out saying you cant win titles shooting 3's so much, until it happened... several times over. People were criticizing the Cavs last season for playing twin towers in the middle that don't necessarily stretch the floor and they were competing for a top 4 seed until injuries decimated them down the stretch. His height shouldn't be an issue due to his athleticism and all around game. If he struggles defensively, it will be more about defensive skill than being 6'1".
My point is that champions rarely follow the rules in terms of "how to win a title". Champions tend to innovate and break the mold of what we all think wins titles. I think a Garland / Sexton backcourt is an issue for reasons going beyond height. He's one of the few guards that actually rates lower than Mitchell defensively and Mitchell's defensive rating was relatively high last year, mainly because the players around him mask his deficiencies and when you look at the makeup of this roster, it's not much of a stretch to assume the two big men in the paint in Cleveland will provide similar support if not better.
The Cavs taking their shot now makes sense. They could've waited to see out the roster and how it performed, but they had a litany of assets right now that were going to do nothing but depreciate here over time (except maybe Ochai) and using them now to acquire an all star with an excellent individual playoff resume who can create on his own makes sense.
I love this trade. If Mitchell was a malcontent who had spats with teammates and was a square-peg, round-hole fit in this team, I'd be worried. But he's an absolute class act who is loved around the league and seems to fit the Cavs pretty well.