The Utah Jazz apparently are ready for a full-blown rebuild after losing coach Quin Snyder to “retirement” and trading three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year center Rudy Gobert to Minnesota for four first-round picks. They may not be done either, as'the Jazz are now reportedly listening to offers for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. SportsLine offers NBA odds on Mitchell's next team if not the Jazz.
The Knicks make all the sense in the world, but Utah will only take the best offer as Mitchell is under contract through the 2025-26 season and likely would bring back more in trade than Gobert did. Mitchell has averaged at least 20.5 points in each of his five NBA seasons and tallied 25.9 points 5.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. The 25-year-old also has proven himself a postseason performer, averaging 28.3 PPG in 39 playoff games. That's the sixth-best playoff scoring average in NBA history with a minimum of 20 games played.
New York has no cap space after signing Mavericks free-agent guard Jalen Brunson, but the Knicks have eight tradeable first-round picks – potentially as many as four next year — after landing three during the draft from Oklahoma City.'Mitchell is represented by CAA, the agency that current Knicks president Leon Rose once worked for, and Rose once represented Mitchell. Knicks assistant coach Johnnie Bryant is close to Mitchell dating back to Bryant's days with the Jazz. Mitchell was born in Elmsford, N.Y., and remains a big Mets fan — his father works for the team.
The Knicks surely will have to include a promising young player(s) such as RJ Barrett along with plenty of salary filler to match Mitchell's $30.3 million salary plus a ton of first-round picks. Barrett (the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft), Obi Toppin (No. 8 overall in 2020 draft) and Evan Fournier works salary-wise.