Rob Gray / USA TODAY Sports
The New York Knicks are hot after Donovan Mitchell, but they should be careful not to outbid themselves in trade talks with the Utah Jazz. We know Danny Ainge has a history of asking and often getting the world, and indeed Ainge recently asked the Knicks for a king’s ransom in exchange for Mitchell.
According to The Athletic’s Tony Jones, Utah offered Mitchell to New York for six future first-round picks plus Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Taupin and Myles McBride, but the Knicks backed out of that offer.
New York was smart to do that. Utah wants draft picks and players over players who are earning now (one player in line for a big salary, like RJ Barrett) so it can go into tank mode and create financial flexibility through a rebuild, and there is no other realistic A Mitchell suitor who could offer the six picks Utah asked for. New York can offer up to eight, but again must throw in as many picks as it takes to outbid the next closest team.
Miami, for example, can only offer two future picks (three if it waives the protection of the 2025 pick, owes OKC or gets creative with the “next eligible” language under the Stepien Rule, which dictates that the team does not can go consecutive seasons without a first-round pick).
The Pelicans could offer six picks if they wanted to mortgage their entire future on Mitchell, but with C.J. McCollum on board, Mitchell feels redundant. The Thunder and Rockets, both loaded with capital withdrawals, are still in development. So the Knicks have the most to offer in terms of draft capital, and they’re not going to let Ainge rob them. They will give one more pick than the next team in line. Maybe it’s five picks or four with all these young players. But it’s not six. At least not at this early stage of the discussions.
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