NBA Rumors - Donovan Mitchell wants to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and head to the New York Knicks
Rumors involving Donovan Mitchell have already started to come out just a few days after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ stunning collapse against the New York Knicks. Cleveland, who had home-court advantage in the first-round series, was eliminated by New York in just five games.
Mitchell, who admitted on his first day with the Cavs that he thought he was going to New York, had a subpar series.
Jason Lloyd had this to say about how Mitchell’s future with the Cavaliers could turn out:
“You have two years of control left on Donovan Mitchell and then a player option year. More than likely, he’s not picking up the player option. … Do you really think after all the assets the Cavs gave up to bring him in that they’re gonna run the risk of letting him leave and getting nothing in return for him? No!
“From everyone I’ve talked to, he wants to go to New York. Does New York want him? I don’t know, but that’s where he wants to go.
We've hinted at this before, but @ByJasonLloyd wrote about it this morning and he's right:
The clock is ticking on Donovan Mitchell's time in Cleveland & the #Cavs have to start having some uncomfortable conversations.
Full discussion: youtube.com/watch?v=BtPejD… https://t.co/gafQB1yFVD
Once the Utah Jazz traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, most basketball analysts believed Donovan Mitchell would be shipped to the New York Knicks. “Spida” is from the Big Apple, and the Knicks had a ton of assets in exchange for the All-Star guard.
The deal for Mitchell to go to New York reportedly fell through because the Knicks didn’t want to include backup point guard Quentin Grimes.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, on 'The Woj Pod' had this to say on why Donovan Mitchell ended up in Cleveland:
"Utah wanted RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes and three first-round picks from New York. That would have been two unprotected and perhaps a protected -- up to top-five protected pick. ... But, the Knicks did not want to put Grimes in a deal. They were willing to do Immanuel Quickley, and with Immanuel Quickley Utah's ask was three unprotected picks.
“They valued Grimes more than Quickley, and essentially New York said we'll do Quickley and RJ, but we want two unprotected picks and a protected third -- we essentially want what you want for Grimes, we want to put Quickley in that deal. And that was the end."
The Cleveland Cavaliers then swooped in and surprised everyone, including “Spida” himself. The Utah Jazz agreed to send Mitchell to Cleveland for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three future unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps.
Donovan Mitchell struggled against the New York Knicks in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round exit
Donovan Mitchell averaged 23.2 PPG on 43% shooting from the field, including 29% from behind the arc. Mitchell’s scoring dropped by 5.1, his shooting by 5% and his three-point efficiency by 10%.
The star player who terrorized opposing defenses in the regular season was not the same player who went up against the New York Knicks. After the Cavs’ Game 1 loss, Mitchell supposedly urged Darius Garland to be more aggressive and to look for his shots.
Mitchell’s advice helped them in Game 2 when Garland dropped 26 first-half points. Unfortunately, the shooting guard couldn’t follow his words of wisdom to Garland as he also became hesitant.
“They outplayed us. Gotta give credit where credit is due. Simple as that”
— Donovan Mitchell on the Knicks https://t.co/vzR0OlQJKU
When the Cleveland Cavaliers needed Donovan Mitchell to step up and carry the team, he arguably shrunk against New York’s physical and unforgiving defense.
Also read: "Donovan was built for Utah"- New York Knicks fans destroy Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs after they crash out of the playoffs