West Notes: Jazz, Donovan Mitchell, Timberwolves, Lakers

Jazz

Star guard Donovan Mitchell has been briefed on the Jazz’s plans after the trades of Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale, and it is not believed he’s seeking a trade.

“After the Gobert trade, there was a belief that maybe Mitchell would be next, and maybe at some point he will be,” Windhorst said on ESPN. “But for now the Jazz are telling people they don’t intend to trade him, and on Mitchell’s side, he’s going to stand pat. He’s not going to force any action right now.”

Mitchell fired off a tweet on Thursday that has created a buzz on the rumor mill, leading some to wonder about the meaning behind it.

“Circle got smaller everybody can’t go,” he wrote.

Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast that “the Jazz made trades they believed were in the best long-term interest of the franchise, adding that he believed the Jazz had a level of return where they would be open to a Mitchell trade as well,” per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.

Timberwolves

Gobert has big dreams with the Timberwolves, as he now takes the middle alongside the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.

“The goal is to win a championship,” Gobert said, via Thomas Neumann of SI.com. “I came here for that. I didn’t come here just to be a good team. I came here to try to take this team to the finals and accomplish that.”

Gobert is a three-time All-Star and averaged 15.6 points, an NBA-best 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots last season with the Jazz. But Utah always struggled to get past the second round during his run there.

“The window for winning is not always big,” Gobert said. “For us in Utah, that’s kind of what happened. I think the organization felt like that. We had maybe passed that window that we had over the last few years. I think [the Jazz are] still going to be a very competitive team. It just felt like with all the assets that they could get for me, it was better for them to go that way.”

Lakers

• The Lakers may have pulled off the sneakiest move of the offseason when they signed center Thomas Bryant, formerly of the Wizards, wrote Bryan Kalbrosky of For The Win. Bryant is just one of several signings the Lakers are making to fill in around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Lonnie Walker IV, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and Troy Brown Jr. are the others.
• LA’s youth movement in free agency have those around the league believing veteran forward Carmelo Anthony won’t be back, sources told Hoops Wire. But Anthony does intend to sign somewhere and play another year, sources said.
• New coach Darvin Ham told Marc J. Spears of Andscape there will never be another James, calling the Lakers star “one of one.” Ham added that James has led by by example. “Rare commodity. Exclusive. Never seen anything like him,” Ham said. “I’m so happy and thankful he’s doing what he’s doing.”