NBA Notes: Donovan Mitchell, Knicks, Charles Barkley, Rudy Gobert

Knicks

The Knicks fell short of meeting the Jazz’s trade demands in 2022 because they didn’t view Donovan Mitchell as a franchise-carrying player, former GM Scott Perry said on an episode of The Hoop Genius podcast, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

“Obviously we made a push to trade for him,” Perry said on the podcast.

“But it was going to be done within reason. He was a good player but he needed more around him to win. Because if he was that singular force, Utah probably would’ve been in the conference finals if he were that singular force. But he wasn’t that singular force. That’s not a criticism against him. That’s just an evaluation that you must make.” 

Obviously, the Knicks backed off … and the Cavaliers snuck in. But the rumors of Mitchell-to-New York aren’t about to die.

For now, Cavs fans are glad the Knicks failed to land him. They don’t really need to worry about what’s next all that much. And frankly, neither do the Knicks.

But either way, in New York, the time wasn’t right when negotiating with the Jazz.

“(Mitchell’s) an excellent basketball player. Multi-year All-Star. Tremendous young man. New York kid,” Perry said. “But you got to ask yourself, if the other team you’re tracking with is wanting to take two-thirds or three-quarters of all your young talent, and all of your draft capital, is what’s left behind going to good enough for you to win rather than hold on to what you have and be a little patient?”

Media

NBA legend Charles Barkley may be a star on TNT, but he said there’s no way he’s working another decade, via Awful Announcing.

Yeah, there’s no chance I’m gonna do 10 years,” Barkley said. “They wanted me to sign for 10 years to make people think I wasn’t leaving. I honestly, to be honest with you, that does keep me up at night. And I think about it a lot. And I don’t want to overstep.

“There’s a great line in the movie, American Gangster with Denzel Washington, the guy says, ‘quitting on top ain’t the same as quitting.’ And I was like, why do people stay until the end of their success? What’s wrong with quitting while you’re still having success, and you’re at the top of the game? And I weigh that a lot in my mind, ’cause like I say, I don’t, I’m not….there’s zero chance I’m gonna be on TV when I’m 70. Zero.”

Timberwolves

Center Rudy Gobert said he’s already feeling good early in the season, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

“Not even my old self. I feel better than I’ve ever felt, because I feel like I’m stronger than I’ve been. The experience that I have now, you add that to the rest of the abilities that I have, I think that’s the best that I’ve been.”