NBA Insider: ‘I Don’t Know If The Donovan Mitchell Knicks Thing Is Really Still A Possibility’

NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN doesn’t know if the “Donovan Mitchell Knicks thing is really still a possibility.”

Mitchell has a player option worth $37 million for the 2025-26 season. The All-Star shooting guard can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 if he declines that player option. 

"I don't know if the Donovan Mitchell Knicks thing is really still a possibility… He's got to be looking at what Jalen Brunson has and feeling like, 'Damn. Like that could have been me.'"

– Brian Windhorstpic.twitter.com/zYeum8PDDT

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 28, 2024

The New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers are interested in acquiring Mitchell, sources told Hoops Wire. However, Mitchell has given no indication that he’s looking to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are in second place in the East with a stellar record of 38-19.

Mitchell is averaging 28.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists this season while shooting 47.4% from the floor, 37.0% from beyond the arc and 86.5% from the free-throw line. He’s 16th in the NBA in points and fourth in points per game. 

A New York native, Mitchell has career averages of 24.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. He scored a career-high 71 points last season against the Chicago Bulls. 

If the Cavaliers go on a deep run in the 2024 playoffs, all the rumors about Mitchell leaving will disperse. However, if Cleveland loses in the first round again, the noise about Mitchell departing will get louder. 

For what it’s worth, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the belief that Mitchell will leave the Cavaliers is “coming from outside the organization.”

The Cavaliers have no intention of trading Mitchell, who has embraced everything that comes with being the leader in Cleveland. 

“At this very moment, sources said, the Cavs have no intention of moving on from their star anytime soon,” Siegel wrote. “Cleveland believes Mitchell is the focal point of what could be a championship-caliber core moving forward, and they value his leadership. For Mitchell, much of the same can be said. He wants to remain the focal point of a team that has a chance to contend at the highest level possible, and he has embraced everything that comes with being the leader of this young Cavaliers team, sources close to the All-Star told ClutchPoints.

“The belief that Mitchell will end up in a new jersey in the near future is only coming from outside the organization. Internally, the Cavaliers continue to be of the belief that the five-time All-Star will remain loyal should they be willing to make the moves necessary to improve the team’s odds of winning a championship.”