There have certainly been a wide range of emotions expressed in the immediate aftermath of the news that the Utah Jazz are trading Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Count ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith as one who is not at all pleased with the deal.
Smith is a diehard New York Knicks fan, and he has been very public about his desire that the Knicks trade for Mitchell, especially since they had long been considered the frontrunners to land the All-Star guard.
A few hours after the news of the trade broke Thursday, Smith posted a video on Twitter in which he shared his thoughts on the deal.
“You see what I’m sayin’? You see what I’m sayin’? Every single time, man, something goes wrong,” Smith began his 76-second video. “I wanted Donovan Mitchell in New York. I shut my mouth. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t say a word because I didn’t want to blow it. I didn’t want to get in the way.”
Smith rattled off how the Knicks have a bunch of first-round picks they could have traded, as well as players such as RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, “and you still couldn’t get Donovan Mitchell. You still couldn’t get him.”
He continued that as the 2022-23 season nears, “The New York Knicks are once again devoid of a star. They’re somewhere other than in a New York Knicks uniform. See, this is what I’m trying to say, man. They make me sick. Nothing ever gets done in New York with the Knicks. Nothing. Nothing. It just never ends with the Knicks. It just never freakin’ ends.”
Smith ended the video with a yell of exasperation.