As the NBA playoffs come into focus, few teams in the league have as much riding on the outcome as much as the Utah Jazz. Built around their tandem of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it seems like they have reached their natural conclusion as a group.
Some fantastic regular seasons, a couple of nice postseason moments, but no real signature run, and certainly no Finals appearances. That sort of thing happens. You only need to look at Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers to see how hard it really is to go all the way and win it all.
Of real concern to Utah Jazz fans, however, are the comments recently made by Donovan Mitchell and the current situation the franchise finds itself in.
After Wednesday’s loss to an LA Clippers squad that welcomed back Paul George, Mitchell had some very worrying quotes to give to reporters. The message was clear. What the Jazz are experiencing after their fifth straight loss is something that they have become painfully familiar with.
They look awfully good in November when no hardware is handed out, but when the games start to matter, too often they have tightened up. The Jazz are still the fifth seed in the West, and a 45-31 record is not to be sniffed at. If anything you could argue they haven’t peaked too soon and raced ahead to the regular-season finish line, as they have in the past.
But you would be foolish to think this is a genuine contender at this moment. This is why, despite Mitchell being under contract through the rest of his prime and until 2026, the Jazz need to begin to prepare for life without their superstar, if they continue on this path. Here are three reasons why he may leave a lot sooner than they’d like.