Donovan Mitchell was ecstatic when he learned he was being traded from the Utah Jazz to the Cleveland Cavaliers, not so much because he was leaving Utah, but because of the players the Cavs managed to keep.
Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Kevin Love form Cleveland’s main core and they are all staying put, much to Spida’s delight.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the guard was on a golf course when he found out and was overjoyed at the fact that no key players were involved in the trade.
“It’s a great fit for Donovan Mitchell,” Windhorst said on ESPN programming shortly after the development was announced (H/T Cavaliersnation.com). “And I’m gonna tell you, I can’t tell you how I know, but I’m aware of when he found out. And I’m aware of when he actually found out about what was in the trade. And when he found out — he was on a golf course — and when he found out that Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland were not in the trade, and neither was Kevin Love, he went screaming around the golf course, he was so excited.
“He’s extremely excited in this moment. I’m sure he would love to have been a [New York] Knick, that’s his hometown. But he’s extremely excited in the moment.”
New York was thought to be the frontrunner in the race for Mitchell but the Cavs managed to snatch the player under their noses. It’s reported that the Jazz did not give the Knicks a chance to top Cleveland’s offer.
