Gobert trade prompting Jazz to complete rebuild

The Minnesota Timberwolves made them an offer that they could not refuse.

The Utah Jazz front office did not start out the 2022 offseason by entertaining any ideas of putting on the NBA’s version of a fire sale, rebuilding, or tanking. They were, for all intents and purposes, nearly at the same spot that the Minnesota Timberwolves were in. Two NBA stars and stuck in limbo-land. Too good to get elite players in the NBA Draft, too vulnerable to win enough NBA Playoff series to be a legit contender for the NBA Championship.

Well, the Utah Jazz remained on the fence as long as they possibly could. But after trading one of their stars to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a handful of rotational role players and future draft picks, the concept of competing here and now was a bit . . . ambitious.

So what did they do? Per ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, they are picking up the phone and listening to offers for Donovan Mitchell:

ESPN story on Jazz listening to overtures for Donovan Mitchell: https://t.co/9u7MwPjSgN

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2022

What triggered the change of heart? After all, it has only been a matter of days since the Timberwolves acquired Gobert. What could have changed in that short amount of time?

The asking price appears to be steep, but in the wake of Utah’s recent Rudy Gobert blockbuster deal to Minnesota, the Jazz are no longer simply dismissing calls on Mitchell, sources said.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2022

Well, for starters, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell is hitting his peak now and for the next three-plus years. But without Gobert, there is almost no chance of reforming an NBA Playoff competitive roster over that short amount of time. So that has almost dictated that the Jazz give serious consideration to trading him now at the peak of his value.

But this has Danny Ainge’s fingerprints all over it. He loves to dangle stars out there to gauge interest, reconsider, and then dangle that player once more near the NBA Trade Deadline when the time crunch maximizes his return.

For now, the Jazz front office is merely taking calls. While that may not translate into an immediate trade, it will set the stage for the Utah Jazz to go full rebuild mode at the NBA Trade Deadline if they are not playing well.