New Trade Rumor Links Donovan Mitchell to Two Eastern Conference Teams
The rumor mill keeps churning out bread crumbs regarding Utah Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell’s next NBA destination. On Tuesday, Jake Fischer of the Bleacher Report gave us some insight on where Pat Riley and the Miami Heat see Mitchell in the grand scheme of things.
“The Miami Heat remain focused on acquiring one of those aforementioned All-Stars, and multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told B/R that Miami prioritized Durant over Mitchell," Fischer said.
Then over at ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski chipped in his two cents on where the potential blockbuster trade stood with the New York Knicks and Jazz.
“Utah talked with the Knicks early last week, exchanged some ideas of what a potential Donovan Mitchell deal might look like. Now, the Jazz are out talking to the rest of the league seeing what else might be available to them,” Wojnarowski said.
It sounds like the Jazz are in the posturing phase of the trade.
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth debate on social media regarding which team has more leverage in a Jazz-Knicks exchange. The argument for the Knicks is just two teams are willing to go all in for Mitchell.
If Miami can get Durant, that leaves the Knicks. If that were to happen, New York could then lower the asking price.
…..but not so fast.
The Jazz don’t have to trade their All-Star guard. Mitchell is still under team control for three years, and executive Danny Ainge could wait until the trade deadline and retest the market.
There’s pressure on the Knicks to get a player with superstar name recognition now. Especially when New York’s front office struck out on free agents Kyrie Irving and Durant in the summer of 2019, and had to settle for Julius Randle.
The Jazz have the advantage, and I wouldn’t expect 'Trader' Danny to have it any other way.
Follow Patrick on Twitter @pbyrnesNBA.
