Donovan Mitchell soap opera: Jazz wanted Knicks’ ‘wife and kids’

Big favorites to recover Donovan Mitchell, a native of the city and eager to join a big market, the Knicks have however failed to find common ground with the Jazz.

As explained by the “insiders”, Danny Ainge tried to get the most out of New York, before finally turning to the Cavaliers. Charles Barkley asked William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, executive vice president of the “Big Apple” franchise, what had blocked the talks between New York and Salt Lake City, and the right arm of Leon Rose confirmed to him that it was the appetite of the Mormon franchise.

“I asked Wes why he didn’t make the trade for (Donovan) Mitchell” explains Charles Barkley on Sirius radio. “He was like, ‘Oh man, don’t trust the media. They wanted our wife, our children. We wanted a deal, obviously. But they wanted my wife, they wanted my kids, they wanted my grandkids. They were just trying to scam someone. So we said: We’re going to have to pass our turn. I take my hat off to these guys because you can’t give your all for a player. I like Donovan, he’s a very good player. But it’s the first time in a long time the Knicks have shown restraint. »

According to ESPN, Utah wanted RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, two unprotected first rounds of the Draft, two second rounds of the Draft and two “swaps” (exchanges of choice) in exchange for Donovan Mitchell. The Knicks weren’t keen on letting go of Quentin Grimes and offered Immanuel Quickley instead. Under these conditions, Danny Ainge then claimed an unprotected third round of Draft in the first round. We understand that the Knicks had the feeling that the Jazz wanted too much…

Nevertheless, Cleveland for its part accepted this big consideration since Donovan Mitchell joined Ohio in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, three first rounds of Draft and two “swaps”.