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.

NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers Roster Looks Stacked After Acquiring Donovan Mitchell

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.

This likely represented some closure for both sides. It also signaled for the Cavs to go out and seek another star.

Mitchell will soon turn 26, which still leaves him in line with the rest of a Cavaliers core that includes Darius Garland (22), Evan Mobley (21), Jarrett Allen (24) and Isaac Okoro (21).

All are under contract or team control for at least the next two seasons, with Garland's $192.9 million extension keeping him in Cleveland until 2028. The Cavs have three years left on Mitchell's deal to convince him to re-sign, which is plenty of time to build some chemistry and go on a few lengthy playoff runs.

It appears that Mitchell, who revealed this wasn't going to be his first time in a Cavaliers jersey, was excited about the move as well.

Blindly praising Mitchell without pointing out his deficiencies would be unfair, however. He's far from a perfect player who can be plugged into any lineup and experience immediate success.

The 6'1" shooting guard is on the smaller side for the position and has never been a plus defender despite projecting to be one coming out of Louisville. Mitchell ranked in just the 15th percentile as a defender last season, with the Jazz allowing 4.6 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

The Jazz built a strong roster around Mitchell with the game's most dominant rim protector in Rudy Gobert and shooters he could kick out to in Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley Jr. and Joe Ingles.