The New York Knicks have been engaged in trade talks for Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell for much of the summer, but an extension for RJ Barrett has effectively thrown a wrench into those plans.
The young forward signed a four-year, $120 million extension that will make him the first Knick drafted in the first round who signed an extension with the team since Charlie Ward in 1999.
Of course, the writing was on the wall for this extension as the two sides appeared to have wanted to commit to each other, but it does create an interesting wrinkle in acquiring Mitchell.
It’s been reported that the Jazz have coveted Barrett in a trade, but bringing him on after an extension like this effectively takes him off the table. However, the talks aren’t dead.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, there are still avenues for the Jazz and Knicks to explore in a trade, but it will require New York to explore options they took off the table before.
Knicks Have a Chance
It’s always fun to talk Knicks with @emacSNY. We spoke about the RJ Barrett extension, Knicks-Jazz Donovan Mitchell negotiations on Geico SportsNite:
While Barrett might’ve been the marquee piece for the Jazz in a deal, with him off the table the two sides will now have to get a bit more creative.
“Now you take Barrett out of the equation because of this extension for obvious reasons, and also because it includes a poison pill provision and every rookie scale extension does. It makes it very difficult to trade RJ Barrett right now and before this extension takes effect next year,” Begley said.
This is where all of the first-round picks the Knicks have will come into play because they will now have to rely on those if they want to bring in Mitchell now.
“Deal could still happen without RJ Barrett,” he continued. “It just means the Knicks, I think would have to be willing to go to a place they hadn’t been willing to go when you talk about draft compensation, and first-round picks, and unprotected first rounders. The Knicks hadn’t been willing to go to where the Jazz have been asking them to.”
At the moment, it’s not clear what the Knicks plan on doing, but it’s important to know that the talks haven’t been cut off.
Mitchell Still in the Cards?
As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski points out, only one player who signed with a poison pill restriction in their contract has been traded and that’s Devin Harris in 2008 in the deal that brought Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks.
Of course, the Knicks don’t have to worry about trading Barrett as they have other assets to include such as Quentin Grimes, Obi Toppin and some higher priced players like Derrick Rose and Evan Fournier. It’s not clear how open to the idea the Jazz are for a package like that, especially considering they’ve already turned down a similar one according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“New York made a recent offer of Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, additional salary and two unprotected first-round draft picks (five total), league sources tell me and The Athletic’s Tony Jones,” Charania wrote.
As it stands right now, the Knicks have their work cut out for them.
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Knicks Trade Could Still Happen After RJ Barrett Extension: Report