It’s too early to say whether the Utah Jazz or the Cleveland Cavaliers are winners of the summer trade

It’s too soon to say the Utah Jazz or the Cleveland Cavaliers have won the Donovan Mitchell trade.

We’re only a few months removed from the blockbuster trade that saw the Utah Jazz send Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, and a collection of picks. So far both teams have looked good to start the 2022-2023 campaign. The Cavs are 2-1 with a close loss to the Toronto Raptors on their record. The Jazz is 3-1 and just suffered their first defeat on Monday, a six-point loss to the Houston Rockets.

That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? Seven games between the two teams have been played, so it’s way too early to say either team won the Mitchell trade just yet. And to be clear, both teams can win. This isn’t about being better than the other team after the trade, it’s about putting your franchise in a better position after the trade than it was before the trade.

So it’s fair to say the Cavs are winners already, just looking at Mitchell’s production against Sexton’s, it’s fair to say Sexton isn’t on Mitchell’s level. At least not yet. So the Cavs are in a better place than had they kept Sexton.

And even though Markkanen is looking like an All-Star in Utah, this is where the question has to be asked about the Jazz. Are they in a better position now than before the trade?

Different expectations for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Utah Jazz

Our sister site, King James Gospel, wrote a piece about how both teams look like post-trade winners and as of right now, on the surface, with no further examination, that seems to be the case. Yet, teams have different expectations and different reasons for making trades.

When it comes to early season expectations, the Cavs are looking at an Eastern Conference Finals appearance at least, while the Jazz was expected to tank for Victor Wembanyama. Markkanen’s hot start and 3-1 record have put the Jazz’s ability to land the perceived No.1 Overall Pick in the 2023 NBA Draft in jeopardy.

Now, if the Jazz stays the course, doubles down with Markkanen, doesn’t trade the rest of their vets, and makes the playoffs, is that enough? Some NBA pundits believe that being a middle team in the NBA, a bottom-four playoff team, for example, is worse than being a rebuilding team. Especially if you don’t have a game-changing superstar like Wembanyanma.

The Jazz are living examples of that; they felt they hit their ceiling with Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Bojan Bogdanovic leading the way, so they got dealt.  Let’s say this new-look Jazz makes the playoffs, then what? Utah isn’t a free-agent destination, and their best bet on rebuilding into an NBA Finals contender is through the draft.

Is Markkanen about to become Dirk Nowitzki? Probably not, but he’s good enough to get them more wins. So if they’re not wanting to tank, then sure, keep Markkanen and stay the course. If they do want to tank, then Markkanen is keeping them from that.

So one can’t say for sure that either team has won the draft because we don’t know the end results yet. The Cavs have finals aspirations and the Jazz are hoping for a rebuild that turns them into a better team than they were before.

We just won’t know if either achieves this for years to come.