Getty Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz warms up before Game Five of the Western Conference second-round playoff series against the LA Clippers.
Even with their savvy offseason signings of Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and, of course, Jalen Brunson it seems as though all New York Knicks media can talk about is the possibility of seeing a Donovan Mitchell trade go down at some point during this new league year.
Fresh off their 17th sub-.500 season since the turn of the century, the Knickerbockers are searching for a way to move themselves up the Eastern Conference leaderboard in 2022-23 and, to many, a trade with the Jazz could be a way to do exactly this.
Now, the type of impact that Mitchell would have on the franchise is something that’s generally up for debate but, in an August 21 sit-down with Dexter Henry, Marc Berman of the New York Post stated that the team itself believes the guard could better their win total by about 10 games.
With the way things have been shaping up this summer, it’s quite clear that both the Jazz and the Knicks are interested in working together to get a deal done, and, as a plus, it appears that the centerpiece of such negotiations is eager to come to the Big Apple.
At least, that’s what Berman said when Henry asked whether or not Mitchell’s public activity in New York this summer should be seen as a “sign that he definitely wants to be a Knick?”
“Without a doubt. I mean, he always spends his offseason in New York but he’s never making all these appearances. And for him to show up to all those Rangers playoff games when he’s not even a hockey fan, [it] was very surprising. He was just at Rucker Park, they had a night for him with the Cyclones,” Berman said.
“And August 30, they’re having ‘Knicks Night’ at Citi Field, which is a little surprising and perhaps a little mysterious, as they said ‘special Knicks will be on hand.'”
Knicks and Jazz Back in Trade Talks
Per an August 16 report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Tony Jones, the once stalled blockbuster talks between the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz have been ‘re-engaged.’
“After several weeks of no conversations, the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz recently re-engaged in trade talks centered on Donovan Mitchell, league sources tell The Athletic.
“The Knicks and Jazz had a fresh trade conversation within the past week about potential packages for Mitchell, according to sources,” Charania and Jones said.
While there are certainly some hurdles that still must be overcome before a deal can become a reality, such as finding a middle ground when it comes to Utah’s reported asking price of seven first-round picks, Leon Rose and company firmly believe that they’re still the favorites to land the perennial All-Star.
Knicks May Have a ‘Plan B’ in Place
Despite having confidence that they can piece together the best package for Mitchell, New York should still be mapping out alternative routes should things not wind up going as planned.
When speaking with an anonymous Eastern Conference executive, Heavy was informed that “Plan B” for the Knicks could realistically come in the form of a deal for Charlotte Hornets forward, Gordon Hayward.
“I think a lot of teams have considered Gordon Hayward a Plan B if they can’t get Mitchell or Durant. The Hornets have taken calls on him but they’re still figuring out what to do about him, about the Miles Bridges stuff, what direction they’re taking,” the Eastern Conference executive told Heavy. “He’d be good with what the Knicks have, with Brunson and R.J. Barrett, a bigger guy who can be a ballhandler. If he can stay healthy. That’s the only reason the Hornets would consider moving him, to get off that contract (two years remaining, $62 million) for a guy who has not been healthy.”
The executive would go on to state that the ideal scenario for the Knicks would be to have Julius Randle heading outbound in the exchange for Hayward, though he believes that such a move would “be bad for the Hornets” to make.