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Utah Jazz change mind, willing to listen to trade offer for Mitchell
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Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz dribbles in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 28, 2022. /CFP

Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz dribbles in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 28, 2022. /CFP

The Utah Jazz, which had previously ruled out any possibility of trading their ace Donovan Mitchell, are now willing to listen to trade offers for the three-time All-Star guard, according to ESPN.

Justin Zanik, general manager of the Jazz, gave an interesting answer when asked if Mitchell was "untouchable" in trade negotiations at a press conference last week.

"Change is inevitable in the NBA," Zanik said. "I'm not trying to be cryptic or anything else, but Donovan is on our roster and he's a very, very important part of what we're trying to do. Things evolve in the NBA, so I couldn't sit here and say anybody is [untouchable]. We're trying to build a championship team, but there's no intent [to trade Mitchell], at all."

Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves poses for a portrait at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 6, 2022. /CFP

Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves poses for a portrait at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 6, 2022. /CFP

The Jazz sent three-time Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for multiple future first-round draft picks in early July. If they trade away Mitchell, the team will absolutely go through a total rebuild.

Having played five seasons in the NBA, Mitchell averaged 25.9 points, and 5.3 assists in the 2021-22 campaign. The team has never missed the playoffs with him on the roster, but their best record was reaching the Western Conference semifinals. Mitchell had his highlights in the postseason, but his shortcoming of balancing scoring and playmaking has been bothering both him and the team all these years.

Donovan Mitchell (#45) of the Utah Jazz shoots in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 28, 2022. /CFP

Donovan Mitchell (#45) of the Utah Jazz shoots in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 28, 2022. /CFP

Considering that Mitchell still has four years left of his five-year, $163 million contract with the Jazz, it will cost any team a lot of assets to trade for him, not to mention they will be dealing with CEO Danny Ainge. His reputation of squeezing the most out of a deal has been well-known to all the front offices in the league.

"This season wasn't very much fun this year," Ainge said. "This draft wasn't fun. Free agency wasn't very much fun. You're over the tax, no draft picks and our team loses in the first round. It wasn't fun for us. We want it to be fun for our fans and our players, but we just haven't had much flexibility to do anything over the last little while."

Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that the New York Knicks will be one of the most interested teams in acquiring Mitchell. The team just landed Jalen Brunson with a lucrative four-year, $104 million contract when the free agency period began. If the Knicks can bring Mitchell to Madison Square Garden, they will have a very explosive backcourt pair on offense and two perimeter vulnerabilities on defense.

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