NBA Rumors: Donovan Mitchell "Not The Face" Of Franchise For Danny Ainge

There can be no doubt now: The Utah Jazz are in rebuild mode. They dealt off Rudy Gobert last month, and despite their insistence that they are not looking to trade Donovan Mitchell, NBA Insiders are hearing otherwise.

NBA executives believe Donovan Mitchell will be available for trade “at some point,” per @WindhorstESPN pic.twitter.com/HLqcGOtnxt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 11, 2022

NBA Insider Brian Windhorst is saying today that NBA executives believe that Mitchell will be available for trade "at some point."

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon elaborated: “The whispers around the league are that Danny Ainge is not convinced that Donovan Mitchell can be the face of a contending franchise.”

In fact, according to MacMahon, Jazz GM Justin Zanik, when asked if Mitchell was "untouchable" in trade discussions, said:

Change is inevitable in the NBA. I'm not trying to be cryptic or anything else, but Donovan is on our roster and he's a very, very important part of what we're trying to do. Things evolve in the NBA, so l couldn't sit here and say anybody is [untouchable]. We're trying to build a championship team, but there's no intent there [to trade Mitchell], at all.

So, in other words, no, he's not untouchable. Zanik added that Spida's status with the Jazz would be determined "by what other teams are offering them."

Yes, something is definitely happening in Utah.