The Utah Jazz and New York Knicks have begun trade negotiations for Donovan Mitchell

According to Tony Jones and Shams Charania, the Utah Jazz have begun trade talks with the New York Knicks for Donovan Mitchell.

According to Tony Jones, the Jazz have had discussions with multiple teams (likely spurred by the recent Woj tweet about the Jazz being open for business with Mitchell.)

From Jones’ article he writes:

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 Knicks possess eight future first-round picks — four of their own and four acquired via trades from other teams — to use in a package. New York has also stockpiled young players, such as Quentin Grimes who is believed to be of interest to Utah, sources said.

Jones also made it clear, after the Woj bomb, that the Knicks would be in pursuit of Mitchell, so it’s clear there are a lot of moving parts going on behind the scene.

This makes sense in a lot of different ways and it feels like it has been the likely destination for some time.

It makes sense for the Knicks, and for Mitchell, because he becomes the hometown star. Mitchell is a big Mets fan, whom his Dad works for, and spends a lot of his free time near his family in New York so it makes sense for him for obvious reasons. For the Knicks, they’ve been starved for superstar talent for a while and being able to combine Mitchell with newly acquired Jalen Brunson would make for a young and dynamic backcourt. On top of that, Mitchell is very likely going to want to be there for a long time with that being his home town so it’s safe to assume he would sign an extension at the end of his current contract. For the Jazz it makes sense because it’s clear that tanking a rebuild is the goal. In Jones’ article he mentions that everyone on the Jazz roster is available and the main goal is to receive draft pick compensation. Because the Knicks have about 8 1st round draft picks they can deal, it’s clear they have the inside track for a trade. It also can’t be ignored that this is a positive for Mitchell’s agency, CAA. Doing right by Mitchell and putting him where he wants to be, makes the Jazz a destination they’d be happy to send players in the future. For a small market like Utah, that’s a positive. It’s a win, win, win for everyone. It also puts the Jazz in the middle of Wembanyamarama which would be a clear shot at a generational talent.

At this point, the question is what are the pieces involved in a potential move? Jones mentions that the Knicks are not wanting to get rid of their front-line talent. That likely is in reference to RJ Barrett. The Knicks surely would like to keep their young, talented wing on the roster to grow alongside Mitchell and Brunson. They are all on the same timeline and would make the Knicks a perennial playoff team. It feels like the Jazz and Knicks are just finalizing on players, but at the very least, according to Tony Jones, the Jazz have interest in Immanuel Quickley, and would probably give him lots of run next year if they are successful with this trade.

However the trade pans out, it’s clear it might be happening soon. Buckle up, Jazz fans!