The latest update on a Donovan Mitchell trade to the Knicks is that there is no update.
Trade talks have dragged out for weeks with apparently little progress, and Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed that in an interview on Friday when he said the talks have “stalled out.”
"As of right now, sources tell me that talks between the Jazz and the Knicks around a Donovan Mitchell trade have stalled out."
— The Rally (@TheRally) July 29, 2022
NBA Insider @ShamsCharania has the latest on Donovan Mitchell trade discussions. pic.twitter.com/DXLoEicg9v
Word that the Wizards and Hornets are in the conversation is not new, but the buzz is those deals are farther away and feel more like leverage to motivate the Knicks than anything else.
Sources have told NBC Sports the Knicks remain the frontrunners and likely landing spot for Mitchell for one simple reason: The Jazz want draft picks back for their rebuild, and the Knicks have up to eight they can trade. What’s left is negotiations about how many picks (the Jazz reportedly asked for six first-rounders early in the talks) plus how young players such as Quentin Grimes, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley are in the mix.
Danny Ainge is a patient negotiator who waits people out and gets them bidding against themselves (we’re looking at you, Timberwolves). Whatever you think of him as the Knicks’ lead executive, Leon Rose has been patient in building up this team. Rose has not been rushed into bad — dare we say, Knicks-like — moves. With nearly a month until training camps open and another month until the season tips off, nobody feels pressure to get a deal done today. Things stall out.
But expect Mitchell to be in a Knicks uniform. Eventually.
