Donovan Mitchell wants to bring Paul George to Utah
By Cody Rivera
Could the Utah Jazz be an ideal destination for Paul George this summer?Donovan Mitchell seems to think so.
A year ago, the Utah Jazz lost their best player, Gordon Hayward, in free agency. When Hayward opted to rejoin his college coach, Brad Stevens, with the Boston Celtics, it appeared as if the Jazz would be reverting back to square one.
But that was where Donovan Mitchell came into play. Utah selected him 13th overall in the 2017 draft, not realizing that he would become the biggest steal of the 2018 draft class. In Hayward’s absence, the rookie Mitchell immediately picked up where Hayward left off, keeping the Jazz as a playoff contender when everybody assumed they will would start a rebuilding process.
Mitchell, a Rookie of the Year candidate, even led the Jazz to a first round playoff victory over the higher-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. Utah eliminated the Thunder in six games as Mitchell averaged 28.5 points per game in the series.
One of the key members of that Oklahoma City team was Paul George, who might choose to opt out of his contract with the Thunder this summer and test free agency. A new home for George might be ideal, as the “Big Three” trio of George, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony clearly didn’t work out as well as Thunder fans had hoped.
In basketball, no player can win a championship on his own. The process of building a title contender in the NBA is all about adding the right pieces over time, bit by bit. In the case of the Utah Jazz, Mitchell is clearly the first and main piece, and now they will be looking to add another piece to help advance this team to the next level. With the free agency period hitting on July 1, George might be the next piece in Utah’s plan.
Salt Lake City would be a good destination for George, as he and Mitchell could form a nice tandem to help the Jazz make a deeper playoff run in 2019. Mitchell appears to be all for the idea, and looks to heavily recruit George during the upcoming free agency period.
According to NBA.com, Mitchell joined ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski for a podcast and had a few things to say about the possibility of bringing PG13 to Utah.
“Why not play with us?” Mitchell said. “You look at how we move the ball. We play with guys who don’t care who scores the most, who rebounds the most … we play with guys who genuinely want to win.”
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Recruiting George likely wouldn’t be enough to overthrow the powerhouse Golden State Warriors, but at the very least, it would give them yet another team they have to worry about in the superior Western Conference. At that point, the Jazz would only be maybe one more puzzle piece away from being a legitimate title contender.
Just something for PG13 to keep in mind should he decide to test the free agency waters next month.