Chanel Bomber wrote:Donovan Mitchell is a future HOFer and one of the best players in the NBA.
If you can get a player of this caliber in his mid-20s for mid players like RJ, Grimes, and a few picks you do it 10 times out of 10.
The Knicks botched that trade. It was a debacle. I think people who say otherwise are just being pointlessly stubborn. Mitchell's career arc has been better than they expected, and our assets have turned out to be far less valuable than they anticipated. We also would've had plenty of assets left to make moves.
Does trading for Mitchell make sense now? I don't think so. Unlike Ainge, the Cavs have no reason to trade him, so they'll ask for a king's ransom, and we're out of tradable assets. Not to mention both teams are direct rivals. Mitchell is also a highly athletic player - in addition to being insanely skilled - so the time to get him was in his mid-20s, not at 29 or 30.
We can acknowledge the Donovan trade was a debacle. We can also get over it and embrace our current Knicks team. They're not mutually exclusive.
I think you’re taking a lot of things for granted in this whole assessment, including trades going the way you want. However, the one person your whole argument is predicated upon is Jalen Brunson.
But before I even say anything, I think we need to establish agreement on two things. One is that Jalen Brunson is better than Mitchell and deserves the ball more. Second, the Knicks are aiming for a championship.
I had to bring up the second point because when the Knicks were engaging in Mitchell talks, I think I remember you saying something to the effect of “I just want an entertaining team.” I think that pretty much shows the mindset and assessment of the fans towards the team. The biggest difference between what we had back then and now is Brunson. We know who Brunson is now, but we didn’t back then, and the team we had back then did not match up with what the Cavs are providing Mitchell now.
The first point is also relevant. What does it take to get Jalen Brunson where he is today? I think most Knicks fans (outside of a stubborn few) and most NBA fans have Brunson as better than Mitchell right now. However, I think if Mitchell had been traded to our team from the beginning, Brunson would have been relegated to the second or third option, and he wouldn’t have had the cache to demand the ball at the end of games, as he does now. And as we know, Mitchell as a first option is kind of lacking.
Finally, I think you brought up the point that Mitchell’s career arc is better than expected and I’d say that it’s hitting expectations at best. I don’t forget how people, including some Knicks fans, were ready to crow the first time the Knicks played the Cavs in the playoffs, about how Donovan Mitchell was going to show us up. He didn’t. He’s been a disappointment tbh. What he’s done in Cleveland is no different from what he did in Utah, except in Utah, he had less talent. Still got rocked by Brunson though.
