3 Superstars Knicks could target to save Leon Rose’s job

2. Donovan Mitchell

Easily, the biggest storyline of last offseason revolved around Donovan Mitchell and his desire to be traded from the Utah Jazz. Throughout the sweepstakes, the Knicks were regularly deemed as the most likely landing spot for the guard, considering their need for another star coupled with his reported desire to play for his hometown team.

Ultimately, however, New York wound up losing out on their pursuits to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who coughed up a package of Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, and a slew of draft picks for his services.

Though initially, Mitchell’s move to Ohio seemed to squash the idea of him donning the orange and blue threads any time soon, recently, rumblings have once again surfaced stating that such talks “haven’t gone away,” which, naturally, has some under the belief that New York could now be gearing up for another pursuit for the 27-year-old.

Should such an acquisition (finally) happen, Rose, who was initially lambasted for falling short of attaining the guard, would wind up claiming redemption and, thus, likely claiming strong job security along the way.

A four-time All-Star, Mitchell finds himself coming off the best statistical season of his already illustrious career, as he posted tremendous averages of 28.3 points, 4.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 38.6 percent shooting from deep while managing to sprinkle in a legendary 71-point, 11-assist performance back on January 2.

Adding this type of player without giving up any of their true key building blocks could prove to be a major win for Rose and the Knicks.