"So, when you look at it, is a Mitchell to the Knicks deal dead?" - Bobby Marks elaborates how RJ Barrett's poison-pill restriction affects 3x All-Star’s trade situation

With RJ Barrett signing his $120 million extension, the New York Knicks may be out of the Donovan Mitchell sweepstakes. The contract includes a poison-pill restriction. ESPN's Bobby Marks elaborated on how the restriction affects the Knicks' position in Mitchell's sweepstakes. He said:

"Let's say that Utah wants RJ Barett. They like that number, 4-years, $120 million. Basically, New York would have to find a third team, and send out Evan Fournier's $18 million to that.

"Because, when you look at it from Utah's perspective, you're getting Barrett's $26.2 million poison-pill number and Quentin Grimes, that is within a 125% of Donovan Mitchell's $30 million+ number. So, certainly manageable to do.

"So, when you look at it, is a Mitchell to the Knicks deal dead? Not necessarily but you have to kind of work around the framework of a deal now."

If Barrett gets traded, the salary cap hit for the acquiring team will be the average value of his current contract and the upcoming extension.

For instance, if a player who signed a 4-year, $120 million contract starting in 2023-24 gets traded, the cap hit on the team he belongs to will only be the value of his contract in 2022-23 (say, 20 million).

However, the acquisition team will have a cap hit of the average value of his current and upcoming contracts, i.e., $28 million. This figure is just the total value ($140 million) over the duration (5 years).

The trade rules within the NBA allow teams to have an error margin of 125% + $100,000 when matching salary caps during trades.

So, as Marks highlights, for the Knicks, the outgoing value of RJ Barett, Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier would total 31.1 million. This number is within 125% of Mitchell's $30.3 million value ($37.88 million).

However, for the Jazz, the incoming value of RJ Barett, Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier would total $46.4 million, exceeding the 125% margin.

Should the Jazz even pursue RJ Barrett?

The Jazz are looking to load up on draft picks and possibly draft Victor Wembanyama next season. It doesn't make much sense for them to acquire RJ Barrett.

If the Jazz are trading Mitchell, it is undoubtedly a full-blown rebuild. So, vying for Barrett only makes sense if Danny Ainge can somehow get more draft picks in a trade for him.

The Utah Jazz ‘greatly valued’ RJ Barrett as part of any Donovan Mitchell deal, per Woj

“A deal without [RJ Barrett] would require the Knicks to relinquish far more draft assets than they've shown a willingness to do, sources said.” https://t.co/cplZErDLmQ

This scenario is ideal for the Utah Jazz. They could flip Donovan Mitchell for RJ Barrett and draft picks.