The Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell will finalize a max extension when free agency opens in mid-October, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The rookie max extension will reportedly be valued at around $170 million over five years.
Mitchell initially had doubts about playing in the NBA restart in Orlando because of what a possible injury would mean for his contract situation.
“Once my teammates told me they wanted to play, then I was all in. I couldn’t make it all about myself,” Mitchell told Yahoo Sports after the Jazz’s 80-78 Game 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets. “There are younger guys who aren’t established in this league and needed this time to show their value. It would have been selfish of me to stand in the way of that. I couldn’t let my contract get in the way of the bigger picture. I had to rely on God. If I got hurt, it was God’s will. But I put my trust in Him and didn’t worry about potentially getting injured. That allowed me to go out there and play. My faith was in God.”
In the first round series against the Nuggets, the 23-year-old star averaged 36.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 51.5 percent from three-point range.
Mitchell also had two fifty-plus point games and one forty-plus point game in the series as he dueled with Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.
After the tough Game 7 loss and losing a 3-1 series lead, Mitchell and Jazz assistant coach Johnnie Bryant, who is taking a job as the associate head coach of the New York Knicks, embraced.
“That’s two years in a row,” Mitchell cried to Bryant, referencing losing in the first round to the Houston Rockets last season. “We worked too f–king hard for this.”
Mitchell made it known that he plans to come back better than ever to prevent another letdown like this.
“I’m going to get right back to work,” he said. “I’m not done. The Utah Jazz aren’t done.”
