With Kevin Durant off the trade market, the next best thing in NBA trade rumors is Donovan Mitchell
Kevin Durant killed the momentum on trade talks that impacted nearly a quarter of the league’s teams. This opens the door for plenty of teams to finalize their roster with other signings and trades heading into training camp.
For some teams, the attention turns to Donovan Mitchell. And for the New York Knicks, it means the price on their coveted star is about go up even more.
The Knicks have been incredibly interested in Mitchell for some time now, but Utah’s asking price was too high for New York’s liking. After re-engaging in trade talks, there is still little common ground on the price, and Utah’s haul they received from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert is likely clouding their judgement on what they’d like the price for Mitchell to be set at.
Now, with Durant off the market, new teams are inquiring about Mitchell, which will increase the price even more.
Donovan Mitchell is piquing the Cavs interest according to NBA Trade Rumors
One new team that has inquired about Mitchell is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ian Begley dropped an update on the Mitchell situation as it pertains to the Knicks on Tuesday night, and he opened by mentioning the Cavs and Jazz have talked.
Already, the Knicks are likely up against the Miami Heat, who you have to assume are at least engaged in preliminary discussions with the Jazz on Mitchell. Miami, already set up to contend, may be leery to pay the price the Jazz seek. Cleveland, however, has a litany of draft picks and young players that could meet the package Utah seeks.
Cleveland owns its own picks from 2024-2029 and keeps its pick in 2023 if it’s a lottery pick. The Cavs have a vast pool of young players in various stages of their development. Any combination of these players, plus draft picks, could be incredibly enticing for Utah.
New York, on the other hand, doesn’t have quite as flexible of a pool of young players to pick from when crafting a deal, making things even harder for New York to get a deal done. They may need to give up someone like RJ Barrett to seal the deal.
Stay tuned, Mitchell will likely be the next big star to be traded.