According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Tony Jones on Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks have “begun discussion” on a Donovan Mitchell trade.
“The Jazz are having conversations with multiple teams on a Mitchell deal, but the Knicks have emerged as the focused destination over the past several days, sources said. Both sides have discussed a deal framework in the past 24 hours, those sources said,” the pair wrote.
After trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed on Tuesday that the Jazz are reportedly “showing a willingness” to listen to trade scenarios for Mitchell.
The asking price for Mitchell will certainly be steep, but the Knicks have eight first-round picks at their disposal. On Wednesday, NBA insider Ian Begley wrote that “teams monitoring the situation believe the Jazz currently are prioritizing draft picks in a return for Mitchell.”
Besides the draft picks, Charania mentioned New York has “stockpiled young players, such as Quentin Grimes who is believed to be of interest to Utah, sources said.”
Charania also wrote that the Miami Heat have interest in Mitchell but, with only two first-round draft picks eligible to be traded, would likely have to “engage a third team in a trade to supply the Jazz with the draft compensation needed for them to feel motivated enough to trade Mitchell.”
In his five-season career with the Jazz, Mitchell has averaged 23.9 points per game and has been named to the All-Star team three times.