3 pros, 2 cons to Lakers trading for Donovan Mitchell

The Los Angeles Lakers are nearing the end of a window that has produced one championship and two Conference Finals appearances. For most, that would spell one of the most prosperous times in franchise history. For the Lakers, however, it means there’s a sense of desperation to try to win at least one more title with the current core.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Cleveland Cavaliers may have the perfect player to help the Lakers make the leap to championship contention.

Six years after LeBron James left Cleveland for Los Angeles, another Cavaliers star could potentially be on his way out of Ohio. In the aftermath of a disappointing end to an otherwise encouraging season, the Cavaliers are rumored to be in danger of losing one of their All-Star guards.

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Lakers are one of several teams that will be making a run at trading for Donovan Mitchell if he proves to be the All-Star on their way out.

According to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, the Lakers are expected to be a leading candidate to attempt to acquire Mitchell this offseason.

“If Mitchell doesn’t sign an extension with Cleveland this summer, the Cavs will have to explore trade options — and one of the teams standing at the front of the line will be the Lakers. It’s possible, given Mitchell’s current condition with his calf, that he has already played his final game in a Cavs jersey.”

Limited assets make a trade for Mitchell difficult to piece together, but the Lakers have made a habit out of finding a way to trade for a superstar when the general public least expects it. That reality is made even more enticing when one considers that the front office is seemingly aware of the fact that the window is closing with a 39-year-old James and a 31-year-old Anthony Davis.

The question is: Should the Lakers actually go all-in on trading for Mitchell?

Pro: Donovan Mitchell creates for others

While it may not be his primarily skill, Mitchell is a willing passer coming off of the best facilitating season of his NBA career. His ability to get downhill and collapse a defense enables him to kick it out to open shooters, and he’s more willing than ever to make that happen.

For a Lakers team that ranked in the middle of the pack offensively, adding a playmaker to the roster should be a top priority this offseason—and few are better than Mitchell.

Despite his erratic performances in the postseason, replacing D’Angelo Russell with an all-around offensive threat will be no easy feat. Russell provided averages of 18.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.0 three-point field goals made per game in 2023-24, with his facilitating numbers ranking second on the team.

In the event that Russell enters free agency and Austin Reaves is a part of a potential trade for Mitchell, the Lakers would be losing a combined 33.9 points and 11.8 assists per contest—with the latter number being especially concerning.

Mitchell won’t be able to make all of that production up on his own, but his 2023-24 averages of 26.6 points and 6.1 assists would fill quite a bit of the void. Additionally, the statistics aren’t lying about how he fits the Lakers’ facilitating reliance in the sense that Los Angeles ranked sixth in assist ratio, while Cleveland ranked fourth.

It’s not his primary skill, but if the Lakers could lose both Reaves and Russell this offseason, Mitchell is one of the few players who could justify the losses.

Con: Are Donovan Mitchell's injuries becoming a theme?

The Los Angeles Lakers have fallen victim to their fair share of injuries over the past few seasons. Anthony Davis missed 36 games in 2020-21, 42 in 2021-22, and 26 in 2022-23, while the previously invincible LeBron James has been absent for 27 in 2020-21, 26 in 2021-22, and 27 in 2022-23.

The Lakers finally seemed to get the injury bug under control in 2023-24, which leads to a crucial question: Are injuries too much of an issue with Donovan Mitchell to justify a trade?

This may sound like a prisoner of the moment concern, as Mitchell missed 27 regular season games and two playoff outings in 2023-24. The unfortunate reality, however, is that Mitchell has missed double-digit games in each of the past four seasons—with 2023-24 simply being the most grueling one yet.

Mitchell missed 14 games in 2022-23, 15 in 2021-22, and 19 in 2020-21—meaning he’s missed an average of 18.75 games per season since 2020.

It’s possible that Mitchell will be able to return to full strength and remain generally healthy for the rest of his prime. He’s still just 27 years of age, and the heavy offensive load that he’s shouldered in Utah and Cleveland would be considerably lighter playing with two superstars in Davis and James.

Based on how many opportunities the Lakers have lost because of injuries, however, it’s entirely fair to question whether or not trading for a player with four seasons of gradual injury issues would be the wisest choice.

Pro: Donovan Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers have two of the most consistent scoring threats that the NBA has to offer. LeBron James finished 2023-24 with an average of 25.7 points per game, while Anthony Davis was only a hair behind at 24.7 himself.

For as great as Davis and James are at putting points on the board, the Lakers are without an athletic perimeter scoring threat who can break teams down from 24 feet and score without fatigue.

Enter Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell has made his name as one of the best and most explosive scorers in the NBA. He’s averaged at least 20.5 points per game in each of his seven NBA seasons, with marks over 25.9 being registered in each of his past four campaigns—forgive the 24.0 he scored in 2019-20 and the 23.8 he mustered in 2018-19.

Over the past two seasons, the five-time All-Star has posted a cumulative average of 27.5 points per game on .475/.378/.866 shooting.

For all of the talk about team needs, few things would help the Lakers more than finding an athletic scorer who can generate offense from the perimeter. Not only would it create pick and roll opportunities for Davis, but it would take a monumental burden off of a soon-to-be 40-year-old James.

Constructing the perfectly deep roster is a dream for every general manager, but adding a player who can score efficiently and explosively is the kind of opportunity that tends to take precedence in the NBA.

Especially when that player tends to be at their best in the postseason.

Con: Trading for Donovan Mitchell would cost almost everything

The Los Angeles Lakers would be one of the most captivating teams in the NBA with a trio of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Donovan Mitchell. All three players are among the best in the world, and all should be able to play off of one another stylistically.

For as true as that may be, the Lakers would likely need to deplete what little they have left as far as depth and resources are concerned in order to make this deal happen.

Despite receiving a combined 97.9 points per game from James, Davis, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers finished the 2023-24 regular season ranked 15th in offensive rating. Obviously, those numbers require context, as not every game was played with all five of those players on the court.

In saying that, it certainly speaks to a desperate need for depth—as does the fact that the Lakers’ bench ranked 28th in the NBA in both points per game and points per 100 possessions.

Clearly, a roster with three players who can all go for 30 points in their sleep is an intriguing proposition. As the NBA makes it more challenging for superteams to be constructed and sustained, however, the Lakers would need to accept that depth would be even more of a problem in 2024-25 than it was this past season.

Deciding whether or not that’s a risk worth taking could be the very thing that determines whether or not the Lakers go all-in on Mitchell.

Pro: Donovan Mitchell is a proven postseason player

If there’s one quality that all players who aspire to be great Los Angeles Lakers must possess, it’s the ability to step up in the postseason. Winning a championship is all but a necessity for Lakers fans to view a player as one of the greatest in franchise history.

Donovan Mitchell has yet to win a championship, but you would be hard-pressed to find a player who has more explosive postseason performances than Spida.

Mitchell has appeared in 54 playoff games up to this point in his career. He’s scored at least 20 points in 44 of those appearances, eclipsing 30 on 20 different occasions. Even more impressively, Mitchell has scored more than 40 points five times.

That includes three 50-point games, which ranks third in NBA history behind just Michael Jordan with eight and Wilt Chamberlain with four.

If that isn’t enough for you, Mitchell’s 57-point game against the Denver Nuggets in 2020 was the third-highest scoring game in NBA Playoffs history. Only Jordan’s 63 and former Lakers great Elgin Baylor’s 61 sit ahead of what Mitchell was able to accomplish.

If you think that was a bubble fluke, look no further than the fact that Mitchell scored 50 points in Game 6 of the first-round series against the Orlando Magic in 2024.

There’s obviously more to basketball than scoring, but Mitchell is the epitome of a player who ups their game in the postseason. In fact, his career postseason average of 28.1 points per game ranks eighth in NBA history—and 3.3 points higher than his regular season average of 24.8.

If the Lakers are going to cash in on this opportunity to try to win one more championship with Davis and James, adding an elite scorer who steps up in the postseason is about as intriguing an option as one can find.