Donovan Mitchell trade price point may be too high for Knicks
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell drives to the basket past Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson, right, in the first half of Game 2 of an NBA first-round playoff series on April 18 in Dallas. Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez
Much has been made of the Knicks contingent that sat front row in Dallas at Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against Utah with the possibility of the NBA investigating the team for tampering in its pursuit of Jalen Brunson. But it wasn’t just Brunson who was on the stage that day — Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz also had a prominent role.
And while Brunson was obviously an object of the Knicks' affections — a fact proved by the four-year, $104 million contract that the team signed him to — Mitchell has been linked to the Knicks for as long as the current front office has been in place in New York.
The Knicks landed one player, but maybe it’s worth thinking, “Why not both?” But it’s not a simple as it was with Brunson, who was an unrestricted free agent and all it took was desire and cap space. The Knicks' front office and Brunson have a lifelong relationship, which took care of the desire, and the team cleared out the cap space to make it happen.
Mitchell also has long ties with New York, growing up in Westchester, and his father has worked for the Mets for decades. While Utah figures out its offseason plans, Mitchell has spent his time off after a first-round playoff ouster by Dallas attending Rangers playoff games and taking batting practice at Citi Field. He is a CAA client, the agency that Knicks president Leon Rose ran in his days as an agent.
So it’s easy to see why the two sides would be interested in uniting. Add in that Mitchell is a six-time All-Star who averaged 25.9 points per game and you see that he’s the sort of young talent — just 25 years old — that the franchise has longed for over decades of struggles on the court and failed to recruit in free agency. A chance to bring this sort of talent aboard is hard to resist.
But should they? There are two primary considerations here, and the first might the be the most important: What is the cost? Danny Ainge, now running the Jazz, has made his reputation as a front-office leader by fleecing opponents — the Nets infamously took his star talents on the back end of their careers in exchange for a haul of picks that netted the Celtics Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Now, in Utah he sent out Rudy Gobert for a package that set a new standard for acquiring first-round draft picks — four futures plus Walker Kessler, whom the Timberwolves had just picked in the first round.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the Knicks and Jazz were engaged in talks, not surprising and the due diligence that should be done. But there is a long way to go for a deal. While Ainge and GM Justin Zanik have not hinted at a return in a deal for Mitchell, they did express a willingness to listen on anyone on the roster. The assumption is that it’s draft picks that Ainge covets, although he already got a haul in the deal for Gobert and another first-rounder from the Nets in the deal that sent out Royce O’Neale.
The Knicks have 11 first-round picks over the next seven drafts and can surrender as many as eight in a deal. If it’s RJ Barrett heading up a package that might be too much to pay, surrendering a 21-year-old rising star with the sort of two-way versatility that teams cherish in today’s NBA. It’s unlikely Ainge would have any interest in the contracts of Evan Fournier or Julius Randle, both of which run for multiple seasons. The Knicks do have an expiring contract in Derrick Rose that could be used as a base to attach to young players — Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Obi Toppin and Cam Reddish — and picks.
Cash for Brunson is easy. But the Knicks have to decide just how many of their accumulated assets it would take to get Mitchell and, equally important, if another undersized guard to pair with Brunson is the piece that they need to use those assets for. Is a backcourt of Mitchell and Brunson feasible and do the Knicks have the pieces around them to make it work?
The question is what is the goal? If it’s a playoff berth this might make it happen. If the goal is to contend with the likes of Milwaukee and Boston in the East then it’s hard to see this lifting the Knicks to that level. And if it costs them the pieces they’ve patiently accumulated that might might be too high a price.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
