A few notes on the Knicks, Nets and Donovan Mitchell:
The Cleveland Cavaliers have removed themselves from Mitchell trade talks, per SNY sources. The Cavs and Jazz had touched base recently on a Mitchell trade. Cleveland has the young assets to put together a competitive offer for Mitchell.
With the Cavs out of the picture, the Knicks seem to be in the best position to land Mitchell in a trade.
New York has the combination of future draft picks and young players that Utah would seek in a Mitchell trade.
At the moment, there doesn’t appear to be any suitors who can approach what the Knicks can offer – even if you take RJ Barrett off the table.
Several teams, including the Nets and Miami Heat, reportedly have interest in Mitchell.
But some members of the Nets organization like where the roster is at the moment and don’t feel a sense or urgency to pursue Mitchell. Miami would probably need to engage a third team to produce enough draft capital to satisfy Utah. The Heat can currently trade three future first-round picks.
New York can trade as many as eight future first-round picks.
As SNY previously reported, Utah seeks Barrett in a Mitchell trade. Barrett, obviously, has strong advocates within the Knicks organization. But some New York decision-makers are open to including Barrett in a trade for Mitchell, sources say.
Unless another team emerges with a strong offer, it seems like the Knicks can get a deal done without including Barrett. Utah would likely seek significant draft compensation and several young Knicks in a package that doesn’t include Barrett.
(For what it’s worth, here’s my opinion on NYK trading Barrett).
With training camp a month away, it will be interesting to see how the Jazz, Knicks and other potential Mitchell suitors approach a potential trade.
In a perfect world, NBA teams have their rosters set ahead of training camp. So it’s probably less than ideal for a situation like a Mitchell trade to drag into training camp.
With training camp approaching, do the Knicks feel more urgency to complete a Mitchell trade? Or does Utah feel more urgency to compete a deal?
New Jazz head coach Will Hardy will be leading his first NBA training camp, leading into his first NBA regular season. Do the Jazz want Hardy to navigate the intricacies of trade talks surrounding an NBA star on the roster?
These are questions to consider as the Mitchell talks continue.