Sources: Knicks have been hesitant to trade picks necessary to land Donovan Mitchell-type player

A few notes on the Knicks, Jazz, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell:

Prior to free agency, the Jazz had been taking calls on most players on of their roster outside of Mitchell, per teams in touch with them at the time.

Now, the questions surrounding Utah are about what they do next with Mitchell.

The Jazz sent Gobert to Minnesota in a deal that netted Utah four future first-round picks and 2022 first-round pick Walker Kessler, per ESPN.

Reports from The Athletic and ESPN stated that Utah has no plans to trade Mitchell and would retool its roster around Mitchell.

But there is some skepticism about Utah’s long-term plans in the wake of the Gobert trade. Several teams still view Mitchell as attainable for the right return.

Which brings us to the Knicks.

New York and Mitchell have been linked by fans and media – including SNY – since Leon Rose took over as team president.

Mitchell grew up in New York, is a huge Mets fan and spends time in New York in the offseason. He’s represented by CAA and has spoken glowingly of Rose.

So there’s always been an undercurrent of ‘wink-wink’ assumption that Mitchell would end up in New York.

But based on Friday’s trade, it’s hard to see Mitchell ending up in New York via trade.

People in touch with the Knicks prior to the draft said the club was wary of trading the combination of picks and players that it would take to land a player like Mitchell. The thinking, according to people in touch with the club at the time, was that there wouldn’t be enough left on the roster to field a contending team.

Does that change now that the Knicks have signed Jalen Brunson and still have 11 first-round picks and eight second-round picks over the next seven years?

I don’t think so. It’s fair to assume that any trade package for Mitchell would include four future first-round picks. The Timberwolves, per ESPN, sent Utah three unprotected first rounders. The Knicks have the ability to do that. But based on their stance before the draft, it’s hard to see them sending out all of those picks and several of their young players to land Mitchell. New York wouldn’t have enough remaining on the roster to field a contending team.

Minnesota added Gobert to a roster that already has Karl Anthony-Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell. The Knicks’ roster after a Mitchell trade wouldn’t have anywhere near the same level of talent.

If Utah decides to trade Mitchell, Miami is certainly a team to watch. The Heat’s situation is complicated by the club’s pursuit of Kevin Durant (according to a source, several people were lobbying Durant on behalf of Miami on Thursday and Friday in the wake of his trade request out of Brooklyn).

One thing worth noting on Utah: the Jazz now have an incredible amount of draft capital. Utah can use those picks to get involved in any multi-team trade centered around Durant.

Teams – including the Heat – continued to pursue Durant on Friday.

One other note on the Knicks and trades: they were among the teams to express interest in trading for Dejounte Murray. Murray was ultimately traded from San Antonio to Atlanta for three first-round picks and a pick swap. Two of those first-round picks are unprotected, per ESPN.

Danilo Gallinari was traded to San Antonio in the deal and subsequently waived. The Knicks had the draft capital to match the Atlanta offer even though it was a steep price. Based on Murray’s comments on Friday, they may not have had a realistic chance to land Murray.

Murray said in a press conference that if he wasn’t traded to the Hawks, he would have stayed in San Antonio. His goal was to play with Trae Young.