Knicks in Talks to Land 25-Year-Old Franchise Cornerstone: Report

Getty Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz looks on against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

All offseason long, the vast majority of attention pertaining to the New York Knicks has been directed towards their reported interest in trying to trade for Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.

A 3-time All-Star and the clear-cut leader for Utah throughout his 5-year NBA career, the 25-year-old has established himself as one of the very best players in the entire league, and the Knickerbockers seem to view him as a worthwhile pursuit.

While talks appeared to have gotten off to a rather hot start once it was announced in mid-July that team CEO Danny Ainge would listen to trade offers for the highly coveted shooting guard, with things even escalating to negotiations on a wild multi-team blockbuster, over time discussions seemed to taper off.

However, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Tony Jones broke the news in an August 16 report stating that the once stalled trade talks between the Knicks and Jazz have finally started back up again.

“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.

‘Hurdles toward a deal remain’ for Knicks

The piece certainly did give an exciting update on such a polarizing hypothetical transaction, but still managed to pull the reigns back on any unrealistic expectations about what this re-engagement means.

Charania and Jones went on to state that while talks have started back up again after nearly a month-long hiatus, there’s still “no traction between the two teams on a deal” and that no trade involving Mitchell is “imminent” for the Jazz.

“Utah has set a high price threshold for Mitchell, who so far is believed to be comfortable with either outcome of staying with the Jazz or being traded elsewhere, sources said. Mitchell, 25, has made three consecutive All-Star appearances and has averaged 23.9 points, 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds over his five NBA seasons.

“The Jazz have already made significant changes to their roster this offseason. They traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets in July.

“The Jazz have maintained they are comfortable keeping Mitchell into the season and potentially beyond, due to him having three years remaining on his contract.”

This high price threshold mentioned is reported to consist of a bevy of promising young prospects and somewhere in the ballpark of 7 first-round picks coming back to Utah in exchange for the All-Star’s services.

Knicks Confident They Can Offer Top Package

Despite the reported high asking price the Utah Jazz have set for Mitchell, the New York Knicks feel as though they’ll be able to offer up the best package.

Leon Rose and company are so confident about their chances of striking up a worthwhile deal, in fact, that The Athletic’s Fred Katz reported in an August 8 article that they “know no one is coming close” to what they could realistically piece together.

“The Jazz want five or six or seven first-round picks, as well as young players. The Knicks own all of their firsts as well as four from other teams: the Wizards’ in 2023, the Detroit Pistons’ in ‘23, the Dallas Mavericks’ in ‘23 and the Milwaukee Bucks’ in ‘25. All of those are protected. They can deal up to eight first-rounders, including up to four unprotected ones. They could add at least three first-round swaps. They have attractive up-and-comers, including RJ Barrett (who we should assume would not be part of a hypothetical deal), Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin.

“Offering, say, five first-rounders, some of them protected, along with one young player wouldn’t come close to meeting the Jazz’s asking price. But at the same time, some teams in the running couldn’t even beat that.

“And thus, we have a stalemate.

“For now, the Knicks know no one is coming close to them.”

Should Utah wind up trading their current cornerstone, it would be quite shocking to both fans as well as those around the league if Mitchell didn’t wind up making his way to the Knicks to represent his home state, New York.