How good a player is Donovan Mitchell?
Obviously very good, the four-time All-Star made second-team All-NBA last season and averaged 27 points, six rebounds and five assists a game in what was his most efficient season, with a 63 true shooting percentage. However, is he the best player on a championship team? Is he solo franchise player good?
The Knicks didn’t think so and that’s why they stood their ground in trade negotiations with Utah last year, former GM Scott Perry said on the “The Hoop Genius “podcast (hat tip New York Post).
“Obviously we made a push to trade for him. But it was going to be done within reason. He was a good player but he needed more around him to win. Because if he was that singular force, Utah probably would’ve been in the conference finals if he were that singular force. But he wasn’t that singular force. That’s not a criticism against him. That’s just an evaluation that you must make.”
Mitchell had long been linked to the Knicks — New York ties, CAA ties (like Knicks’ president Leon Rose), and he wanted to be there and take on the role of star in New York City — but the Knicks didn’t want to overpay and the Cavaliers came in with a much bigger offer and got their man.
Knicks fans can point to last year’s playoffs when New York eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs and say their franchise made the right move, however, the real answer will take more time to play out.
Perry isn’t wrong about Mitchell’s standing in the league. Mitchell is a top 15 player, but he is not on the level of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, or peak Stephen Curry. If a solo franchise player is the Knicks bar, there are only a handful of those players in the league at any time, and they don’t switch teams often.
How much is a player such as Mitchell worth in a trade? The Knicks reportedly offered two unprotected first-round picks, a couple of promising young players (Quentin Grimes and Obi Toppin were mentioned), plus matching salary. Then the Knicks set an artificial deadline, likely betting no team would offer more. The Cavaliers eventually did beat it (three unprotected first-round picks, two pick swaps, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and Ochair Agbaji). For a Cavaliers team that already had talent such as Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen on the roster, they needed an elite scorer to round out an outstanding young team that might grow into a contender. Mitchell was that guy and the Cavaliers made their bet. The Knicks were not that close to contending and went another direction, getting a steal in free agency with Jalen Brunson.
The positive spin for Knicks fans is that they should have kept their eight draft picks and promising young players to jump into the mix for the next superstar on the move (Antetokounmpo is out, so eyes have shifted to Embiid and Doncic, although those players are not on the move until next summer at the earliest if they leave at all). Former Knicks admistrations were not patient, and to his credit Leon Rose and company are. Mitchell may not have been the right pitch for them to swing at.
But at some point the Knicks have to take the bat off their shoulder and make that swing.
For now, if the Cavaliers take the step forward from being a 51-win team they were last year that some of us expect, they will be winners in the Mitchell trade. If not, next summer could hear a lot of “Will Mitchell stay in Cleveland talk.” Meanwhile, the Knick will be good and wait out the market, going big game hunting when the time is right. Mitchell was just not their guy.
