Are the Heat a better team for potential Knicks trade target Donovan Mitchell?
The word on the street is that if Donovan Mitchell were to request a trade during the offseason, he’d end up with the New York Knicks. He’s from New York and his father is an executive for the Mets. And most importantly, the Knicks seem to be willing to go all-in on him.
When the Utah Jazz were eliminated from the playoffs, Mitchell said that he wants to remain with the team, but also said that he’d think about his future in a week.
That was nearly two weeks ago. There’s not a huge rush for him to make such a life-changing decision, but if he were to request a trade, New York would have competition.
If Mitchell is hoping to land with the Knicks, that wouldn’t stop other teams from pursuing him, such as the Miami Heat.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that the Heat are apparently keeping an eye on Mitchell’s future in Utah, just like we all are.
Would Donovan Mitchell rather play for the Heat over the New York Knicks?
First and foremost, the Heat have one of the best coaches in the NBA in Erik Spoelstra. And Miami has only missed the playoffs twice in the past seven seasons.
More importantly, the Heat have made it past the second round two times in the past three years. That should hold some value to Mitchell, considering that the Jazz have been first-round exits in three of his five seasons with the team.
Fischer wrote: “The Miami Heat are being mentioned as another franchise that’s closely monitoring Mitchell’s status in Utah.”
Miami’s reportedly trying to balance a playoff run while keeping tabs on Mitchell. That in itself should prove that New York has a greater need for the guard because the Knicks have made it to the playoffs six times in the past 22 years. Yikes.
The Heat have opted for Max Strus over Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup. Robinson signed a five-year, $90 million deal with Miami last August, so the front office could include him in a possible deal. It wouldn’t be shocking if the Heat threw Tyler Herro in there, too.
New York executives (and Julius Randle) were in attendance for Game 1 of the Utah-Dallas first-round series a few weeks ago. Once Mitchell’s season was over, he was in attendance for Game 3 to watch Miami take on Philadelphia in Game 3 at Wells Fargo Center.
Courtside @spidadmitchell 🕷 pic.twitter.com/nKTJ7YtVS6
— GQ Sports (@GQSports) May 6, 2022
Is there a mutual interest between Mitchell and the Heat? Maybe. But then again he didn’t have the opportunity to watch the Knicks play in the second round of the playoffs because they failed to make it to the play-in tournament, so let’s not look too far into that.
Mitchell could help New York not only make it to the playoffs, but to the second round for the first time since the 2012-13 season. But if he wants a trade and would rather be in Miami, Mitchell would go down as yet player who was supposed to wind up on the Knicks. Sigh.
