NBA Trade Rumors: Knicks unlikely to land Donovan Mitchell this offseason
NBA Trade Rumors: According to recent reports, the New York Knicks are unlikely to land Donovan Mitchell this offseason – even if he were to demand a trade from the Utah Jazz.
Even though there hasn’t been much substance reported on it, there’s a growing sense that Donovan Mitchell could demand a trade from the Utah Jazz this offseason. If that does end up being the case, there will be plenty of teams interested.
Predictably, one of the teams that is widely expected to be interested if Mitchell would hit the open market is the New York Knicks.
The Knicks will be looking for a starting point guard and are always interested in landing a superstar – and that’s exactly what Mitchell is. Though, according to a recent report, even if Mitchell were to demand a trade, the Knicks aren’t likely to land him.
"[via Bleacher Report]League sources regularly mention New York’s main offseason focus is to improve at the point guard position, but acquiring Utah’s other All-Star, Donovan Mitchell, remains highly unlikely.…There’s healthy skepticism around the NBA that New York’s best offer for Mitchell would trump other teams’ pursuits, such as a potential package from Miami that would theoretically center around Tyler Herro plus other salary and multiple first-round picks."
It’s no surprise that it’s currently considered unlikely that the Knicks would land Mitchell. For one, the Jazz holds plenty of power over Mitchell. He is on a long-term contract and I’m not sure Mitchell will simply be able to “leave” and go wherever he wants.
Plus, unless the Knicks would be willing to include RJ Barrett in a trade package, it would be difficult to find a blue-chip trade piece for the team to surround a package around.
It would be interesting to see what type of bidding war would erupt if Mitchell did demand a trade, but at least for now, it seems like the Knicks would be out of the running. Unless, of course, the Knicks would either be willing to send Barrett to Utah or if they can get a third team involved to help facilitate a blockbuster deal.