Cavs aim big, Jazz join draft pick arms race, and Sylvia Fowles' retirement
Another NBA trade saga reaches an exciting conclusion and a WNBA legend rides of into the sunset.
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Just when I thought that the Donovan Mitchell saga was going to drag into the season with both teams leaking info as leverage ploys, we get a curveball. The New York Knicks Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Mitchell from the Utah Jazz, seemingly out of nowhere on Thursday afternoon.
Really, this seems like a reasonable deal for both sides. The Jazz immediately extended Sexton for four years, added a rotation player and a prospect and some draft capital. Utah’s roster looks mostly like some young guys and a clearance rack. Having added 13 draft picks this summer, Danny Ainge could make Sam Presti blush. The Knicks, at least, have a grumpy Cam Reddish.
Restricted free agency is often weird enough that Sexton remaining unsigned this late was unsurprising. Noteworthy but not shocking. Now, it seems like the Cavs had a plan for Sexton one way or the other. The two sides could not make an extension happen before last season and felt like the Cavs wouldn’t be crushed to lose him. Sexton is a fine player, and while Mitchell has his flaws, I’m trading him for Mitchell every time.
What I really like about this trade is that a non-glamour market is going all-in on the next few years. Smaller guards like Mitchell tend to have shorter shelf lives and at 25 years old, the Cavs are in an ideal spot to bet on the next few seasons.
Funny enough, I feel similarly about the Timberwolves trading for Rudy Gobert. Both the Timberwolves and Cavs were young teams that made a leap one season ago. It seems like both franchises looked at what they did, felt they may have or come close to hitting their ceiling, and then made big moves that should raise that ceiling.
Like the Timberwolves in the West, adding Mitchell to Darius Garland and Evan Mobley should put pressure on those teams on the edge of the play-in. Offhand, the Cavs have firmly put themselves in the mix with teams like Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago and even Brooklyn unless you can guarantee Kyrie or Durant will play 70+ games.
(The East shaping up to be very good in back-to-back seasons is fun)
Whether the Cavs wind up hanging with the likes of the Sixers, Celtics and Bucks will be interesting. Doing so would likely require improvement from their young players and some luck (duh, Derek).
Hopefully these moves work out reasonable well for teams in non-destination markets because it increases the competition and the excitement for the following season.
Reminiscing on the 2010s Minnesota Lynx and Sylvia Fowles
I’m going to admit that this may no longer be the timeliest post, but the WNBA season is still going strong and I spent four seasons covering the league. My time around the Minnesota Lynx was a highlight of my career.
I was fortunate enough to be there for the tail end of the dynasty in 2017 and saw how the league caught up with them and the Sparks around 2018. In enough time, Maya Moore, Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen reached the end of their careers.
Sylvia Fowles’ retirement brought up many fond memories. Sweet Syl lived up to her nickname and often had a smile on her face. Even the time I was standing in her way and she told me to jokingly “Move!” all you could do was laugh.
There is also how dominant Fowles was. Covering those Lynx meant getting to see how physical even the practices were, but you also saw how hard teams came at Fowles. Fowles was so good on both ends despite teams throwing double and triple teams at her, and hammering her on every touch of the ball, she still managed to produce.
It seemed like it always drove Cheryl Reeve nuts when a player would take an unnecessary 3-pointer when Fowles was open — or open enough — saying once [paraphrasing], “Down there is 70 percent [talking about Fowles], out there is not 70 percent.”
Those Lynx teams accomplished so much in a relatively short amount of time. What made me think to write about this was this tweet involving Maya Moore.
Fowles calling it a day on her basketball career and focusing on her next move as a mortician (of course) definitely marks the end of an era. Handing the franchise to Napheesa Collier is putting the future in good hands, but those 2010 Lynx sure were special.