Donovan Mitchell Not Expected To Turn Knicks Into Playoff Contenders Just Yet

News about movements in the offseason has come to a trickling down of information after Kevin Durant announced his desires to leave the Brooklyn Nets, which has left fans wanting more updates regarding his situation.

However, one deal that everyone should keep an eye on in lieu of Durant’s impending move is that of Donovan Mitchell.

The Utah Jazz, under the guidance of Danny Ainge in the front office, decided to kickstart a rebuilding phase after trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a deluge of picks and veteran pieces.

Since then, it was reported that they were going to make all vets on their team available for trade, including three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell and former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson as the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to the latter.

As for Mitchell, the New York Knicks are in need of a superstar-caliber talent to lead their roster back to its glory days in the early 2010s.

However, Brad Botkin of CBS Sports believes that Mitchell is only going to be the first building block and not necessarily their cornerstone.

Botkin noted that the Knicks have to trade for Mitchell as soon as possible and offer the Jazz a deal they cannot refuse, likely similar to that of what the Wolves offered Utah–a boatload of picks and easily-tradable players.

“Put together a couple playoff seasons and become an honest destination for future stars eager to jump on an opportunity to be a New York hero with an honest shot to succeed. Mitchell gets that ball rolling,” he wrote.

The Knicks, as Botkin put it, cannot include potential All-Star RJ Barrett in any deal as he can still reach those heights while playing alongside Mitchell and newly-signed combo guard Jalen Brunson.

Barrett is likely going to be the third wheel in this rotation since their styles of play overlap with one another, which is not an entirely bad thing as the Knicks will need a sixth man capable of scoring with ease–something that the young Canadian has shown off multiple times.

Hoping for Julius Randle to return to his All-NBA-caliber performance is going to be a slight stretch for Knicks fans, but it is something that certainly can happen.

With a core composed of Randle, Brunson, Mitchell and Barrett, the Knicks will surely have a better shot at luring big-name players to come to New York.