At the moment, the most likely destination for Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell appears to be the New York Knicks.
The Knicks, who are often looking for ways to add star talent, have been brought up early and often in rumors related to Mitchell.
While the Knicks surely know that they would have to give up quite a lot to get Mitchell to New York, there are apparently some players that the Knicks do not want to move.
Two of those players are Derrick Rose and Quentin Grimes.
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“The Knicks don’t want to unload Derrick Rose,” Jazz beat writer Tony Jones said. “He’s long been a favorite of Tom Thibodeau. I know the Knicks want to hang onto him and Grimes. Those guys are priorities.”
Of course, there is also an assumption that the Knicks have interest in pairing Mitchell and young wing R.J. Barrett together on the team, so it seems safe to assume that Barrett could be off limits in any potential deal.
That leaves players like Julius Randle, Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickly and Cam Reddish as potential pieces to put together a trade package for the Jazz guard.
Moreover, the Knicks would likely have to part ways with a large number of future first-round draft picks to get the Jazz to complete a deal.
The Jazz hauled in a ton of draft picks in the trade that sent Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this offseason. If they can land another haul of picks in a Mitchell trade, they’d be setting themselves up for an incredible rebuilding period.
Despite the report, it’s hard to believe that the Knicks would hold up a trade just because the Jazz want either Rose or Grimes.
It’ll be interesting to see if talks move along or stall out as the offseason goes on.
