NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz trade talks went all the way back to Summer League

After securing Donovan Mitchell last week, certain reports indicated that the Cleveland Cavaliers had been in conversation with the Utah Jazz since July.

While the New York Knicks were deemed the overwhelming favorites, the Cavaliers swooped in after the Knicks extended RJ Barrett.

On the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast, cleveland.com's Chris Fedor provided some context to the Jazz-Cavs trade.

"The background here is the two teams spoke at Vegas Summer League. At that time, the Cavaliers got the feeling from Utah that the price was going to be too high. And there were going to be other teams out there that could’ve met Utah’s asking price.

"As the offseason progressed and New York continued to take the approach they took, Utah continued to have Mitchell on the roster. And they were fielding offers from other teams, the Cavaliers started to get the feeling that they might be in this thing."

Predicting the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2022-23 season

The inclusion of Donovan Mitchell in the Cleveland Cavaliers' starting lineup propels them to a top-four seed in the East for many.

The 2021-22 season could be deemed a success for the Cavaliers. Evan Mobley showed flashes of being a potential All-Star, while both Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen logged their first All-Star appearances.

Caris LeVert's mid-season acquisition was seen as a big win, too. The Cavaliers gave up Ricky Rubio in the trade, who they signed back in free agency this offseason.

Despite finishing as the eighth seed, the Cavs lost twice in the play-in tournament. They lost first to the Atlanta Hawks and then to the Brooklyn Nets. This meant that Cleveland failed to qualify for the playoffs.

The Cavaliers were bottom-five in points scored per game in 2021-22, and top-five in points given up per game. In other words, their defense was marginally short of the league’s best, and their offense was marginally short of the league's worst.

So it comes as no surprise why Mitchell is seen as such a good fit in Cleveland. The Cavaliers have basically added a player who can average 25 points and score at a 53.3% mark.

‼️ twitter.com/dariusgarland2…

If they can continue to be one of the best defenses, Garland and Mitchell's scoring could make them one of the top-10 offenses. In such a scenario, the Cavaliers might make a serious push to come out of the East for the NBA Finals.