In what should be another dagger to New York Knicks fans, on Wednesday Donovan Mitchell publicly admitted during his Cleveland Cavaliers introductory press conference that he was disappointed he did not land in New York for the 2022-2023 season.
The New York Knicks 2022 offseason has been a mixed bag of results. The team pursued and acquired coveted restricted free agent point guard Jalen Brunson — although there may have been some tampering involved. And they gave new long-term deals to two of their key young building blocks in Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett. However, the organization traded their first-round pick in June’s draft to add future draft assets. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in using all the draft capital they cultivated to land All-Star Donovan Mitchell when he was available in August.
Related: Knicks mocked around NBA for failed Donovan Mitchell trade – Who are they saving their picks for?
While Brunson is a much-needed improvement at point guard, this summer will be remembered for the team’s miss on another game-changing talent they needed, and were actually the favorites to get. It’s left many Knicks fans frustrated and disappointed after with their team’s latest failure to acquire top-tier talent.
Donovan Mitchell on possible New York Knicks trade: ‘It would have been nice’
Well, it seems that Knicks fans weren’t the only ones confused and disappointed by Mitchell not being traded to the Knicks. During his Cavaliers introductory press event, the 25-year-old star revealed that he too was a bit disappointed that he was not acquired by his home state team, after not being able to play in New York since he was a teenager.
“Who doesn’t want to be home, next to their mom? I haven’t lived at home since I was in the eighth grade and I went to boarding school, so it would have been nice.”
Donovan mitchell on failed trade to knicks [h/t The Athletic]
For weeks, it seemed like the Knicks were the best trade partner for a rebuilding Utah Jazz team. After coach Quinn Snyder resigned and the team traded fellow All-Star Rudy Gobert in June, the Jazz were clearly in a full remodel and in pursuit of young players and draft assets. New York had the best of that commodity in the league, yet they played hardball and were eventually beaten out by Cleveland. It seems those rumors also reached Mitchell, and he firmly believed being traded to the Knicks was not a matter of if, but when.
“Once Rudy got traded, I kind of saw the writing on the wall. I think we all did. I kind of had the feeling I was gonna get moved. Like I said, I thought it was New York.”
Mitchell on trade rumors this summer
Now Mitchell will be a part of a young and uber-talented core of players that will make the Cavaliers highly competitive now, and a possible title contender in the future.