With about half the teams in the league angling for leverage in Kevin Durant talks, Donovan Mitchell remains on his last leg in Utah. According to various sources, the young stud is likely to be moved at some point in the near future, and the New York Knicks are among the teams most aggressively pursuing his services.
The only thing holding progress back are the Knicks themselves, who are apparently less than pleased at the thought of meeting the extremely high price for Mitchell.
(via SNY):
People in touch with the Knicks prior to the draft said the club was wary of trading the combination of picks and players that it would take to land a player like Mitchell. The thinking, according to people in touch with the club at the time, was that there wouldn’t be enough left on the roster to field a contending team.
Does that change now that the Knicks have signed Jalen Brunson and still have 11 first-round picks and eight second-round picks over the next seven years?
I don’t think so. It’s fair to assume that any trade package for Mitchell would include four future first-round picks. The Timberwolves, per ESPN, sent Utah three unprotected first rounders. The Knicks have the ability to do that. But based on their stance before the draft, it’s hard to see them sending out all of those picks and several of their young players to land Mitchell. New York wouldn’t have enough remaining on the roster to field a contending team.
The Knicks are a franchise that never seems to get it right. They haven’t drafted a true superstar in ages, consistently fail to land top-tier free agents, and always fall short when joining the trade market for a big-name player.
Acquiring Mitchell could change the franchise’s fortunes for years to come… but it seems the team is still unsure if they want to pay the price to make it work.
Whatever they decide to do, the Knicks cannot afford to make another mistake. They have to get this right, or it could cost them a chance at contention moving forward.
