Knicks star knows Donovan Mitchell trade rumors won't go away

Just last off-season, most NBA insiders predicted that Donovan Mitchell would end up with the New York Knicks. The ties were obvious, as president Leon Rose used to be his agent, not to mention the fact that he’s a NY native.

They had the money and the assets to make it work, but the Cleveland Cavaliers one-upped all offers to make sure to get the Utah Jazz star and pair him with Darius Garland.

The early returns of that new-look backcourt were quite encouraging, but the Cavs still hit a wall in the playoffs. Ironically, that wall was Tom Thibodeau’s team, and there have been doubts about Mitchell’s commitment to the organization ever since.

That’s why Knicks guard/forward Josh Hart didn’t want to address the ongoing rumors. Instead, he claimed that everybody knows all that talk will never go away, at least for as long as he doesn’t sign a contract extension.

Josh Hart Knows The Donovan Mitchell Rumors Won’t Go Away

“Those are never going to go away,” Josh Hart told The New York Post. “He’s from New York. New York is never going to let that go away. So you’ll never know what happens. That’s for the future, that’s for Knicks Twitter to talk about, and have rumors about, and put up stats of God knows what. But everyone knows that will be an underlying thing.”

Even Mitchell admitted that he was aware of the trade rumors and thought he was going to be a Knick:

“I was told (the trade offer) it was RJ (Barrett) and hella (draft) picks,” Mitchell told The Athletic. “That’s what I heard. And I thought that was happening. I thought that was it. I’m there (on the East Coast) all offseason. I’m there in the summer.”

Mitchell has already made it loud and clear that he’s not going to sign a contract extension this season, as it doesn’t make sense, financially-wise. He’s under contract for another season and has a player option for the 2025-26 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

That puts the Cavs in a bit of a tough situation. Of course, trading him now makes no sense because they could still have him for another full season. But if they don’t think he’s ready to commit long-term, then they should consider moving on from him next season.

The Cavs have had a tough time luring elite talent to their ranks without LeBron James. Small market teams often struggle in free agency, but they’ve done an elite job of finding and developing talent in the NBA Draft.

Knicks Will Make A Move

As for the Knicks, they have a big stack of draft picks, contracts, and money, so it’s only a matter of time before they push all their chips to the center of the table and go all in for a star.

They failed to get Mitchell in the past, but they could reignite their pursuit of him at some point. They couldn’t get Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo could now be out of the question, but they’ve been patient and know their time will come.

The Knicks have improved in every season under coach Thibodeau, and they hope that trend could help lure a star to the basketball mecca. And if Mitchell continues to take strides as one of the best scores in the game and outgrows yet another small market, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him heading back home.