With Kevin Durant calling off his trade request, the NBA world turned its eyes to Utah to see what would happen to All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell.
While the New York Knicks seemed like an inevitable destination, the Cleveland Cavaliers swooped in to land the 25-year-old and will provide him with a far better basketball home in what appears to be a perfect match between player and team.
The trade, while shocking at first, makes all too much sense.
After LeBron James agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million extension to remove himself from the 2023 free-agent class (a time when the Cavaliers were projected to have close to $30 million in cap space), it eliminated the option for the Akron native to return home once again despite flirting with the idea at the All-Star game.