3 Potential Trade Destinations for Donovan Mitchell

The Utah Jazz are now hearing trade offers for young superstar guard Donovan Mitchell. Since being drafted out of Louisville in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft, Mitchell has made three All-Star games, won a Slam Dunk Contest and been a First Team All-Rookie selection. Some see him as the true 2017-2018 Rookie of the Year, as the actual winner, Ben Simmons, had already been in the league with access to NBA-level facilities for a year prior.

Mitchell will be a boon to any team that manages to land him in a trade. Most teams looking to acquire him will be contenders or borderline contenders as the Jazz will attempt to rebuild with the assets given back to them from this trade and the Rudy Gobert deal.

Here are three potential trade destinations for Donovan Mitchell.

New York Knicks

This trade has been rumored and talked about and speculated on in basketball circles for years. Mitchell was born in New York and played his high school basketball in New England. He spends his offseasons in New York City, reportedly. He’d be playing near his family, as his father works for the New York Mets.

The Knicks have the draft capital to get this done, too. They have seven picks in the next three drafts, and picks are essential for the Jazz who will have committed fully to a rebuild if they trade Mitchell after also giving away Joe Ingles and Gobert.

Will it put the Knicks in instant title contention? Maybe not, but they will surely be a playoff team after picking up the surging Jalen Brunson. They have only one playoff appearance in the last nine years, so that level of competitiveness will be enough reason to get this done.

Miami Heat

To put it simply, the Heat need shooting. Their defense is among the best in the entire NBA, but their lack of scoring is essentially what got them bounced from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics. Trading for Mitchell could fix that issue in one stroke.

The only thing stopping this trade from being a no-brainer is the Heat’s lack of assets to get it done. Miami only has three draft picks (all first rounders) from 2023-2025. Many of their future picks are protected, so they may not receive any more. Also, the core of this team is what got them to the 2021 NBA Finals. Key players would need to be moved, which alters chemistry.

However, if they can get this done without moving Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, then it would make sense to move Heaven and Earth to grab Mitchell. The Heat could be favorites in the Eastern Conference if this trade is done with minimal damage to the core.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors are not afraid to make a splashy trade to remind the East of their superior front office talent. See the Kawhi Leonard trade that netted them their first-ever NBA Championship, despite the brass knowing there was almost no way Leonard would choose to stay past that one year.

Reports indicate that Toronto doesn’t want to use the capital it would take to grab a 34-year-old Kevin Durant. They would almost assuredly need to disassemble their core to make it happen. Mitchell, however, is gettable with some bench players and picks. They have all of their own picks through 2030, with the exception of a 2024 second rounder.

Outside of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes, the Raptors have no real household names. But, they are still well constructed and well coached and if they grab a shooter of Mitchell’s caliber they won’t be a first round exit in 2023.

Stay tuned for more breaking NBA content, including preseason moves, contract updates and more news from every team.

Featured image courtesy of Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

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