It was confirmed in summer league and pre season for them.

He certainly struggled to start the real season but Quinn gave him the green light and a long leash from the get go.

They know from practice what they have and what the pecking order is - it was just a matter of it translating to the games and they felt it was just a matter of time (it didn't take him long to beat out Hood).

Ultimately if Hayward had stayed Mitchell would be the #2 option and would be taking Hood's shots and many of Rubio's excess shots (rubio is shooting way above his career average out of necessity with this Jazz team). I would estimate Mitchell would be getting 14 fga per game and shooting slightly better than he is now due to more quality shots within a better offense.

Imagine a lineup of Mitchell, Hayward, Rubio favors, and Hobert. It would have been a pretty formidable defensive and offensive unit.