Getty Future Knicks legend Donovan Mitchell?
Now that the Utah Jazz have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the hands of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, the future of their budding superstar Donovan Mitchell is up in the air.
Mitchell has long been a name that has been floated for the New York Knicks to acquire, and now it looks like the time is right for them to make a move. After year after year of fizzling out in the playoffs, the Jazz themselves might be open to making a change because the Mitchell-Rudy Gobert pairing doesn’t seem like it’s enough to get the team over the hump.
While the Knicks aren’t exactly championship contenders themselves, adding a talent like Mitchell to the mix alongside Julius Randle and some of the other young stars could result in something special in New York.
Knicks fans are dying to see a true star show up in New York, so they’ve already started the recruitment process for Mitchell.
Knicks Fans Try Their Best
Just practicing…
Mitchell has a lot of links to New York already, with one major one being the fact that his father works within the New York Mets organization.
If he were to come to the Knicks, he’d have family already in the area, and that’d definitely be a big selling point.
After the loss, the Jazz star indicated he wanted to stay in Utah.
“Yes, this hurts, I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “But yeah, I do.”
“…I just wanna win yo…[long pause, deep breath]…This hurts and like I said, I’ll think about it in a week and go from there…”
— Donovan Mitchell on whether he’ll ask out of Utah
Mitchell is under contract for the Jazz for the foreseeable future, so even if he does want out the team could decide to hang onto him for several years if they wanted to run it back with him.
Knicks fans to Donovan Mitchell
Despite that, Knicks fans are openly calling for Mitchell to ask out of Utah and come to New York. The problem for the Knicks is that this would likely cost a pretty penny and they’d have to part with some of their young talent. They would also have to find a way to match his large salary.
Could Mitchell Leave?
GettyIs Donovan Mitchell leaving the Jazz?
We’ve seen that if a star wants out of their current situation, they will generally have that wish granted for them. James Harden essentially forced his way out of both Houston and Brooklyn, and we’ve seen Ben Simmons miss a whole year to get out of Philadelphia.
In today’s NBA we see the stars holding a lot of the cards, so if Mitchell wants out, he could likely do it.
The Knicks would have to give up either Evan Fournier or Julius Randle in a deal, and they’ll also have to consider parting ways with somebody like RJ Barrett. This means a deal might not even be all that worth it considering they’d likely find themselves in a similar spot as they are now where the roster is solid, but it can’t really compete for much.
Mitchell likely wouldn’t want to find himself in a similar situation he’s in with Utah where the team is good, but it’s not good enough to be the top tier teams.
READ NEXT: Knicks Addition Painted as Scapegoat for Former Team’s Struggles