Knicks Dreaming of Blockbuster Trade for $98 Million All-Star, Says Insider

Getty Knicks general manager Scott Perry.

With the New York Knicks losing to the Atlanta Hawks on March 22, the team secured a losing record and all but confirmed they’ll be missing the NBA play-in tournament.

It’s fitting that this comes against the Hawks as they are also the team who knocked the Knicks out of the playoffs last year. New York will have a lot of questions to answer this offseason, and one of the biggest ones is what will they do at point guard?

Starting Alec Burks out of position there hasn’t been the answer, Kemba Walker wasn’t the answer, and it doesn’t seem like Derrick Rose will be the answer when he returns from injury.

Coach Tom Thibodeau has shown a strong resistance to giving Miles McBride a real chance at the position, so it leaves the team with no other options but to look outside of the organization.

One name that has popped up frequently is hometown hero Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell, a three-time All-Star with the Utah Jazz, has been linked to the Knicks due to his hometown ties and his father working with the New York Mets organization.

Former Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant is a coach with the Knicks and Mitchell also has ties to the organization through Leon Rose. On paper, it looks like a great fit, but the Knicks would have to make a trade to acquire him, and that could prove to be costly.

Newsday’s Steve Popper argues that all of this is just a dream for Knicks fans, and he has several points to back that up.

Mitchell Might Not Happen

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The biggest hurdle for the Knicks is Mitchell’s contract. With several more years of team control, and a player option on top of that, it’ll be hard for the Jazz to find a deal that blows them away enough for them to give up on him.

“Mitchell is under contract for three more seasons and $98 million with Utah, with a $37 million player option after that, and Danny Ainge, who oversees the Jazz, has a reputation built much more on fleecing opposing general managers than handing over assets for dimes on the dollar,” wrote Popper.

Popper also argues that having all of the connections to Mitchell won’t make all that much of a difference in acquiring him because of the massive contract.

“So the whispers around the league that the Knicks’ front-office connections in the past with Mitchell, placing former Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant prominently on the Knicks’ bench and his longing to come home will make for an easy union are exaggerated,” he said.

The asking price for Mitchell would also be something the Knicks have to keep in mind.

Is He Worth It?

GettyRJ Barrett defended by James Harden and Joel Embiid.

What would make this deal even tougher for the Knicks is it’d likely cost them RJ Barrett, somebody who has blossomed into a star this season.

Barrett is still on his rookie deal, so he’ll be due for an extension eventually, but he’s proving to be worth it as of right now. If he continues his development, he’ll become a cornerstone for years to come, and the Knicks might not want to give that up.

Then again, talent like Mitchell doesn’t come around too often, so he might be considered to be expendable if the Jazz star becomes an option.

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