It's no secret that both the Utah Jazz and the New York Knicks have been working hard to try and make a Donovan Mitchell deal come through. At this point, however, it appears that the Knicks have backed off a bit after hearing what the Jazz actually want for their prized superstar.
NBA insider Tony Jones of The Athletic provided more details on the negotiations between the two teams. According to Jones, the Knicks pulled back on their chase for Mitchell once they realized that the Jazz were demanding an insane trade package for the All-Star shooting guard:
“The two teams have had substantial talks, they've had ongoing talks,” Jones said on ESPN 700. “There was a feeling that things were a little bit close as late as Tuesday night, but the Knicks, according to my sources, kinda backed away. I have some sources that are telling me that Danny Ainge is asking for everything but the Statue of Liberty. I had a really good source tell me that the Jazz asked for at least six of New York's eight tradeable first-round picks and all of New York's high-impact young guys. So that will be Quentin Grimes, Emmanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Miles McBride.”
As Jones described above, Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is pretty much asking for everything save for the Statue of Liberty. They took home quite a haul from the Rudy Gobert trade and apparently, they want more in a potential Donovan Mitchell deal.
Jones also reported that despite being linked to the trade, RJ Barrett isn't likely to make the move to Utah simply because he doesn't fit with what they're trying to do:
“The Jazz do not wont to take back RJ Barrett in the deal because they don't want to pay him. They wanna go young,” Jones added.
To be clear, however, this deal is anything but dead. Jones reports that while we may not see this happening in the next 24 hours or so, the big takeaway here is that both teams continue to be engaged in trade talks:
“When you look at a time frame, I think that both sides are saying nothing is really imminent, but there's obviously been some significant talks on both sides.”
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