The New York Knicks’ pursuit of the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell has been widely reported. Mitchell has been linked with the Knicks for a while, and the offseason has brought an opportunity for him to end up there. Following Rudy Gobert’s trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Jazz has made it clear that Mitchell is available, but only at what they think is the right price.
Unfortunately, that price is quite steep for a player that has struggled to lead the Jazz to playoff success. The 7 picks that the Jazz reportedly want are proving to be too many for the Knicks to give up. However, according to Shams Charania, writing for The Athletic, there was an offer that was made by New York that again fell short of Danny Ainge’s expectations.
“The Jazz and Knicks are in discussions on a trade that would send Donovan Mitchell to New York, according to sources. A deal is not considered imminent yet, but the Knicks are motivated to acquire Mitchell and have proposed new packages to Utah’s new front office led by CEO Danny Ainge.
“New York made a recent offer of Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, additional salary and two unprotected first-round draft picks (five total), league sources tell me and The Athletic’s Tony Jones. The Jazz’s asking price has been more significant than that.
Discussions between the teams are still on, and the Knicks have enough assets to make it likely that a deal will be struck at some point. It only depends on how much the Jazz are willing to bend in the negotiations, which has admittedly not happened much so far.
Mitchell has 3 guaranteed years left on his contract, and there is no doubt that any team that acquires him will get a stud. However, the Jazz have already messed with the market with the Rudy Gobert trade, and it’s hard to imagine that they will settle for less than what they want at this point.
