Knicks taking surprising stance on Donovan Mitchell?

Donovan Mitchell may be old news at this point for the New York Knicks.

Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein said this week in a post to Substack that initial indications are that the Knicks do not intend to mount an all-out trade pursuit of the Cleveland Cavaliers star Mitchell. Stein adds that the Cavaliers signaled to rival teams throughout December that they aren’t prepared to entertain Mitchell trade overtures yet anyway.

This report comes just days after the Knicks sent many of their best assets to the Toronto Raptors in a blockbuster trade for OG Anunoby. The Knicks also acquired Anunoby’s Bird rights in the trade, meaning that they can offer him the most money when he becomes a free agent in the summer.

But while Anunoby is a superb defender, he is not enough of an offensive dynamo (never once scoring 18 points per game in a single season) to be considered a true star. That is why the Knicks’ reported stance here on Mitchell is surprising.

The Knicks heavily pursued the four-time All-Star Mitchell, a native of New York, in 2022 when the Utah Jazz made him available for trade (Utah would eventually send Mitchell to Cleveland instead). Even less than two months ago, many prominent figures saw it as an inevitability that Mitchell would end up in The Big Apple at some point.

If the Knicks effectively remove themselves from the Mitchell conversation and move forward with a core trio of Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, and Julius Randle, that could have a big domino effect around the league. Maybe the stunning rumor that we heard about Mitchell’s future last month might just actually come to fruition.