Tag: jazz

Cavs acquire three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly made a splash move!

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Cleveland has acquired three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, 2022 first-round pick Ochai Agbaji, three first-round picks, and two pick swaps.

Cleveland is sending its three unprotected picks to Utah in 2025, 2027, and 2029 and picks swaps in 2026 and 2028, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Sexton, a restricted free agent, is reportedly signing a four-year, $72 million deal with the Jazz. 

It appeared that the 25-year-old Mitchell would be traded to the Knicks, but the two teams could not reportedly come together on a deal.

Utah continues to rebuild, while the Cavs appear to be a team that’s going for it. Cleveland will have a very potent backcourt with All-Stars Mitchell and Darius Garland. They have an All-Star center in Jarrett Allen and a player that could be an All-Star in second-year forward Evan Mobley. In addition, Mitchell still has three years left on his contract, which is great. 

However, they gave up a lot of future assets. Plus, is there much difference between the backcourt of Sexton/Garland and Mitchell/Garland? Sexton(6-1), like Mitchell(6-1), can score the ball at a high level, and like Mitchell, they are both undersized shooting guards, so that could be something to pay attention to going forward. 

Last season, Cleveland went a surprising 44-38 and lost twice in the Play-In Tournament, which caused them to miss the playoffs. They wanted to take that next step; a move like this should go a long way in making that happen. 

Cleveland is definitely in the mix in the Eastern Conference. Not saying they are championship contenders, but on paper, they will be a tough out for anybody. 

Clearly, there has to be a lot of excitement in Cleveland, and there probably has not been this type of excitement since LeBron James left.

Let’s see what this looks like on the court. 

Ex-NBA player Mo Evans on who should be ROY: ‘I would go with Donovan Mitchell just because he’s a true rookie’

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Rookies Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz and Ben Simmons of the 76ers have helped lead their teams to the second-round of the playoffs. Both teams would not be in that position without those two guys.

Mitchell had 38 points in the Jazz close out game against the Thunder, while Simmons became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to record a triple-double in the playoffs as the 76ers beat the Heat in 5.

The big question with Mitchell and Simmons is who should be Rookie of the Year. Simmons is a marvel with the ball and affects the game in so many different ways. He leads all rookies in rebounds and assists; also, Simmons was third amongst rookies in points.

Regarding Mitchell, he leads all rookies in points and set the rookie record for 3-pointers made.

Both could easily be Rookie of the Year, but former NBA player Mo Evans is going with Mitchell:

“It’s really a tough call because both guys, as you said, deserve it, and I think to Donovan Mitchell’s credit, he’s a true rookie, and he’s had a stellar year,” Evans told the Go4it podcast. “He’s impacted his team greatly, and I love how he plays with such aggressiveness and super talented. And then with Ben Simmons, he’s really turned the corner significantly after coming back from injury, and barely playing last year, not getting to play at all. And coming back from injury, Philly would not be who they are without him as well. I would go with Donovan Mitchell just because he’s a true rookie.”

Evans believed Simmons had an advantage over Mitchell coming into this season. Here’s why:

He’s(Simmons) been able to sit back watch and be around the game at this level for an additional season, and that’s a long time,” Evans said. “You learn about basketball being around these great players, and that’s why his comfort level is so much greater than a “rookie” player, but I think that you can’t go wrong with either one of those guy winning that award.”

I think you can’t wrong with Mitchell or Simmons. We might get a repeat of the 1994-95 season when Grant Hill and Jason Kidd shared the award, but if it were up to me, I’m going with Simmons because of the multiple ways he can impact the game.

Westbrook: ‘Here in Utah a lot of disrespectful, vulgar things are said to the players'(WATCH)

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Russell Westbrook tried to do everything in his power to get the Thunder to Game 7. Despite scoring 46 points, Westbrook, and the Thunder would lose 96-91 to Utah in Game 6 on Friday night.

With the loss, OKC season ends in disappointment, while the Jazz move on to face the Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals.

After the game, Westbrook got into a confrontation with a fan

Watch and here Westbrook’s reaction to the fans in Utah:

Does Westbrook have a point? Maybe. Just because you buy a ticket, does not mean you have the right to be disrespectful. Considering his frustration level after being eliminated from the playoff, you can understand Westbrook’s reaction. However, Westbrook has to try to stay calm in those situations because he’s the one that will look bad.

 

 

Report: Joe Johnson to sign with Rockets

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According to ESPN, Joe Johnson is expected sign with the Houston Rockets after his buyout is complete with the Sacramento Kings.

Johnson was sent to Sacramento, by the Jazz, in a three-team deal that included the Cavs and Kings before the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.

Johnson, 36, gives the Rockets another guy that can shoot the ball and provides the team with more depth.

Twitter reaction to Hayward to the Celtics

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It’s a great day to be a fan of the Boston Celtics! Gordon Hayward has agreed to a four-year, $128 million deal to become a Boston Celtic. After much thought, Hayward decided that Boston was the place for him.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

 

https://twitter.com/TreyLyles/status/882392866311610368

https://twitter.com/Sp0rtsTalkJoey/status/882388833559605248

https://twitter.com/Isaiah_Thomas/status/882388352439398403

Hayward to Boston official!

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Update: Gordon Hayward will sign with the Boston Celtics after all! According to ESPN, the deal is four-year, $128 million.

Celtics management now has a series of transactions to do in order to create cap space. The Celtics would have to pull the qualifying offer on Kelly Olynyk, renounce free agents Jonas Jerebko, James Young, Gerald Green and waive the contracts of Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson (or trade). The Celtics would be left with $27.6M in room and likely need to move the contract of Jae Crowder, Terry Rozier or Marcus Smart. Trading Rozier would have the Celtics short $1M of a max salary a lot, according to ESPN.

According to ESPN, Gordon Hayward will sign with the Boston Celtics. However, according to NBA.COM’s David Aldridge, Hayward has not made a decision at this point.

According to multiple reports, the 27-year-old Hayward will choose Boston, Utah, or Miami at some point today. If Hayward were to go back to Utah or go to Miami, Celtics’ fans would be absolutely sick. It’s like thinking you hit the lottery, but find out you have the wrong numbers. Hayward brings the Celtics one step closer to beating the Cavs.

This should be fun!

Gordon Hayward to make decision on Tuesday?

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Gordon Hayward has been wined and dined for the past few days. Now, it’s almost decision time. Hayward held meetings with the Heat, Celtics, and Jazz.  According to USA Today’s Sam Amick, Hayward may make his decision on Tuesday. Hayward is said to be conflicted about whether to return to the Jazz, or to move on.  

If he goes to Boston or Miami, Hayward gets out of the star studded Western Conference, and gives himself a better chance of making the NBA Finals. However, Utah is where he started, and is a team that had regular season and playoff success last year. 

The 27-year-old Hayward became an All-Star for the first time last season with Utah. 

Last summer, Kevin Durant made his decision on the 4th of July.

Will Hayward do the same?

Stay tuned!

 

Kevin Durant: ‘That’s why they call our league soft’

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Last night, in the 4th Qtr of game 3 between the Warriors-Jazz, Kevin Durant was issued a flagrant one and technical foul after pushing Rudy Gobert in the back.  Durant was retaliating after taking a push from Gobert.

“That’s why they call our league soft because they call flagrants for stuff like that,” Durant said after the game.

Durant was dominant last night with 38 big points, and now the Warriors lead the series 3-0 after beating the Jazz 102-91.

Here is the link to shove:

http://www.nba.com/video/2017/05/06/0041600223-gsw-uta-play22

Here is the Durant’s comments about the incident with Gobert:

Matt Barnes on hanging out Utah: ‘There’s no nightlife in Utah’

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The Utah Jazz are off to the second-round of the Playoffs after dispatching the Clippers in seven. Good news for them, but bad news for the Warriors; at least, when it comes to partying. When asked to compare the party scene in Utah to Los Angeles, Matt Barnes had this to say to ESPN: 

“No comparison. There’s no such thing, man. There’s no nightlife in Utah. Obviously, as players, you want to be able to have a little bit of a nightlife, but the main focus is winning games. Me personally, I want to get out there because I want to beat the Clippers. That’s my former team, and my kids are out there. But as far as nightlife, there’s no comparison to nightlife in Utah and L.A.”

Kevin Durant gave his take:

“I’m sure it’s probably clubs, but I’ve never been to one in Utah,” Kevin Durant told ESPN. 

Fortunately for the Warriors, they probably won’t have to be in Utah very long. Warriors will beat the Jazz in six. 

Rudy Gobert on teammates: ‘Some of us don’t compete’

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The Utah Jazz have been struggling this past week (losing 2 out of 3 games this week), and that struggle continued in a 108-95 loss to the Clippers on Saturday night. After the loss, center Rudy Gobert was not happy with some of his teammates efforts. Gobert gave ESPN his thoughts after the loss to the Clippers:

“We’ve got guys that compete, but some of us don’t compete. Some of us just think about scoring. That’s what it is. Coach keeps repeating it. We’ve just got to compete. We’re too nice. Those guys, we know they’re going to get calls. We’ve just got to come out aggressive and ready to fight.”

The Jazz are going to be a tough out in the playoffs. Maybe this late season swoon will get them back on track.