NBA Trade Rumors: The Cleveland Cavaliers would make the Donovan Mitchell trade market that much more interesting, and offer the New York Knicks a worthy competitor.
With all eyes on the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell, there are a few things that we know for sure about this current situation.
For one, Mitchell is being shopped. That much has been evident. Two, the Jazz aren’t in a rush to get a deal done. Mitchell has three years left remaining on his contract and from all indications hasn’t formally asked to be traded.
And three, the New York Knicks seem to be in the driver’s seat in their pursuit of Mitchell.
Is there another team that could compete with the New York Knicks?
The question remains, is there another team that would be a worthy competitor for the Knicks in their pursuit of Mitchell? It’s difficult to answer. For one, there aren’t many teams out there that could offer up to eight first-round picks to Utah. There’s no way the Knicks are doing that, but they have the ability to if they want.
Second, of the teams that have that many picks to offer, the majority of them aren’t in a position where they’d want to go all-in for Mitchell. Most of those teams are in the early stages of rebuilding.
They won’t want to part ways with the other young talent that it would take to complete a deal. It’s become clear that the Knicks don’t have an issue with that.
Though, there is one team that could make things interesting in the Mitchell sweepstakes. And that’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reportedly have a certain level of interest.
"[via SNY.TV]The Cavs touched base with Utah about a Mitchell trade in recent days, per SNY sources. Cleveland’s level of interest in Mitchell is unknown but the Cavs have the young players and picks to put together a competitive package."
As this report states, the Cavs are an interesting team because of the young talent that they could include in a package. For example, the Cavs could build a package around Collin Sexton (sign-and-trade), Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen, and Isaac Okoro (or a combination of those players) while also adding three first-round picks and pick swaps.
It would leave the Cavs with a core of Darius Garland, Mitchell, and Evan Mobley. Cleveland’s depth would be gutted, but that’s the type of trio that could be a problem in the Eastern Conference for years to come.
The Knicks should still be considered the favorites to land Mitchell but if the Cavs truly went all-in on a pursuit it would give the market that much more interesting.