Disclaimer… I know this is extremely unrealistic, it poses more as a “what if” scenario where instead of including Markkanen and Sexton in the Mitchell trade, Cleveland moved DG. At the time of the Mitchell trade, DG was an all-star with a bright future ahead of him. In making this trade, Cleveland would undo the mistake of moving Markkanen by trading DG instead.

Overall, the Cavs roster looks much better as a result of this move. Their starting 5 would be Mitchell, Strus, Markkanen, Mobley and Allen with a bench 5 off Sexton, LeVert, Okoro, Niang and Wade.

As far as the Jazz are concerned, they get a young PG to actually build around (unlike Markkanen who isn’t quite good enough to be a true #1) as well as one of the most exciting shooters in the league in Sam Merrill and another talented young PG in Porter Jr. In addition to that they’re getting a 2024 1st and a future unprotected 2030 1st. Cleveland can also throw in young G league star Emoni Bates to sweeten the deal.

This trade gives the Jazz more ammo to build around and heavily improves the Cavs roster as well. Again, I know it’s not even remotely realistic as there’s no way Cleveland would trade back for players they just shipped away two years ago (and more likely than not the Jazz say no), but it is a fun “what if” to look at. Cleveland is going to have to move one of Mitchell or Garland this offseason, the two do not work well at all when together. The defense suffers far too much when both are on the floor. It will be interesting to see how the playoffs pan out and whether Mitchell commits to a long term deal or not.