Exit Survey: A huge offseason awaits for the Utah Jazz

A huge offseason awaits for the Utah Jazz: 1. Trade Gobert or Mitchell

It is time. Time to address the elephant in the room and get it done. Trading one of Gobert or Mitchell does not guarantee things will get better. If anything, the Boston Celtics could make a case for keeping them together. It looked like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown could not co-exist, then Tatum made a leap, and the Celtics are one round from the Finals.

It is not out of the question that Mitchell makes that leap. Despite guys like Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, (Tyler Herro?), and Trae Young having overtaken him, he is capable of putting himself back into the equation with a monster year next season. It looks a lot more likely to happen than Gobert changing who he is.

A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert is still unable to have the impact required in the postseason. Trading him and keeping Mitchell would seem like the obvious play here, and it may be that the state of other franchises means that the market for Gobert could be about to expand for the Jazz to cash in on.

The Phoenix Suns just saw their championship hopes go up in flames and don’t seem keen on giving Deandre Ayton a max deal. Could trading for Gobert to pack the paint in a better way behind Booker and Chris Paul re-open their window to contend? Even if that is a deal that backfires on the Suns, the Jazz wouldn’t care. They’d get younger with Ayton next to Mitchell.

Obviously, Mitchell would have more suitors, but getting rid of an All-Star just as they are hitting their prime for a smaller market team is among the riskiest things a front office can do. Unless the return for him is so good it keeps the Jazz relevant now and sets them up for the future, keeping Mitchell seems the way to go.

Maybe they play us all and trade both? Perhaps Mitchell has had his fill of Utah and asks to be traded. No matter what, though, something has got to give this summer for the Utah Jazz, and a big trade seems likely.