Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell could be traded within the next month.
The team is reportedly looking to move Mitchell before NBA training camps open at the end of September, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his podcast.
“[Tim] MacMahon, you said I believe last week that you thought that the Jazz would make a Donovan Mitchell trade before the [regular season] opener,” Windhorst said. “And it sounds to me in talking to people around the league that the Jazz want to try to go even sooner than that. They want to go before training camp.
“… It does sound as I talk to folks in the league that the Jazz are trying to apply the gas here,” Windhorst continued. “To try to juice the offer, especially juice the offer from the New York Knicks.”
The Knicks have been the subject of trade speculation around Mitchell since the start, and now it looks like they’re the only realistic suitor left standing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who were also talking with the Jazz about a Mitchell deal, reportedly took themselves out of discussions for the star guard, according to SNY’s Ian Begley. The Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets were also reportedly involved in discussions for Mitchell as recently as July 29, but it’s unknown if any true offers are or were on the table. The Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat are other possible destinations, according to Begley, but neither are in the position to offer the best deal.
“… 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,” Begley wrote. “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.”
So, if we’re to believe Begley, that leaves the Knicks the last team with the means and motivation to pull the trigger on a trade for Mitchell. The Knicks and Jazz have seemingly talked for months, but now it appears like the Knicks may be swayed into offering R.J. Barrett in any trade package for Mitchell, per Begley.
Utah is likely looking for a similar package to what they received in the Rudy Gobert trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves: multiple first-round picks and a couple of role players. The Jazz already traded away one of the players they received in the deal — guard Patrick Beverley — and now appear to want to get the ball rolling on a Mitchell trade as soon as possible.
Whether or not the Knicks bite is entirely up to Leon Rose and general manager Scott Perry. A backcourt of Mitchell and Jalen Brunson sounds nice, but not if those are the only two players left standing when the dust settles on what the Knicks sent to the Jazz.
At the very least, though, it looks like the only thing standing between the New York Knicks and a trade for Donovan Mitchell is, well, the Knicks. And now there’s a hypothetical deadline to get the deal done for either side.
