Knicks Fan Favorite Included in Latest Donovan Mitchell Trade
If the New York Knicks are looking to obtain Empire State native Donovan Mitchell, it could prove to be one expensive flight home.
Professional and amateur observers alike have inserted the Knicks back into the Mitchell sweepstakes, which are set to re-open with his Cleveland Cavaliers future in flux. One of the most intriguing proposals so far comes from a former front office prescience: ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks suggested that the Knicks may have to bid farewell to one of the beloved newcomers and staples of the team's most successful season in over a decade if they're hoping for a Mitchell homecoming.
"The play of (Jalen) Brunson and the results on court after the (OG) Anunoby trade showed New York does not need to chase the next superstar, unless, of course, an upper-tier player such as Giannis Antetokounmpo is available in the future," Marks said. “But let’s play the hypothetical game and walk through what New York could offer if it wanted to explore a Mitchell trade. New York checks the boxes with draft assets, having 10 tradable firsts over the next seven years. The Knicks can also swap picks every season."
“A trade sending Bojan Bogdanovic, (Donte) DiVincenzo, and three first-round picks is allowed but only if Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein take less in free agency, or New York finds a third team for Mitchell Robinson.”
Knicks fans may have made peace with the idea of dealing away Bogdanovic and Robinson, both of whom dealt with injures last season. Few, if any, also expect the Knicks to use all of their draft picks in a massive cabinet, as it has already been two years since they made a first-round pick.
But trading DiVincenzo may be a breaking point for New Yorkers who happily took in the the Villanova alum's record-breaking outside antics in a career-best season: the former Golden State Warrior and Stephen Curry apprentice sank a Knicks-record 283 three-pointers last year and averaged a career-best 15.5 points per game.
The signer of a four-year deal last offseason, DiVincenzo needed less than two months to take over the Knicks' primary shooting guard duties. DiVincenzo's health, as he was one of the few Knicks who did not require any extended absences (missing just one of a 94-game trek, including playoffs), was also a comforting development.
But there's precedent for the Knicks' wheeling and dealing of franchise faces, with perhaps the most egregious example of all happening this season: New York dealt away homegrown talents RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley in December, landing the gamechanging services of Anunoby in the process. DiVincenzo may be the sculpter of some of the finest hours in recent metropolitan memory, but the superstar dominated NBA landscape is an unforgiving battleground.
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks