NBA Trade Rumors: Cavs looking to jump to title contention with Donovan Mitchell trade

Josh Wilson

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

With Kevin Durant off the trade market, the next best thing in NBA trade rumors is Donovan Mitchell

Kevin Durant killed the momentum on trade talks that impacted nearly a quarter of the league’s teams. This opens the door for plenty of teams to finalize their roster with other signings and trades heading into training camp.

For some teams, the attention turns to Donovan Mitchell. And for the New York Knicks, it means the price on their coveted star is about go up even more.

The Knicks have been incredibly interested in Mitchell for some time now, but Utah’s asking price was too high for New York’s liking. After re-engaging in trade talks, there is still little common ground on the price, and Utah’s haul they received from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert is likely clouding their judgement on what they’d like the price for Mitchell to be set at.

Now, with Durant off the market, new teams are inquiring about Mitchell, which will increase the price even more.

Donovan Mitchell is piquing the Cavs interest according to NBA Trade Rumors

One new team that has inquired about Mitchell is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ian Begley dropped an update on the Mitchell situation as it pertains to the Knicks on Tuesday night, and he opened by mentioning the Cavs and Jazz have talked.

"Utah certainly seeks RJ Barrett in a deal...they would like to get Barrett back."@IanBegley on where discussions stand with the Jazz and the Knicks on a Donovan Mitchell trade: https://t.co/FOMYr1cHcl pic.twitter.com/euIvkZ1WGy
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) August 24, 2022

Already, the Knicks are likely up against the Miami Heat, who you have to assume are at least engaged in preliminary discussions with the Jazz on Mitchell. Miami, already set up to contend, may be leery to pay the price the Jazz seek. Cleveland, however, has a litany of draft picks and young players that could meet the package Utah seeks.

Cleveland owns its own picks from 2024-2029 and keeps its pick in 2023 if it’s a lottery pick. The Cavs have a vast pool of young players in various stages of their development. Any combination of these players, plus draft picks, could be incredibly enticing for Utah.

New York, on the other hand, doesn’t have quite as flexible of a pool of young players to pick from when crafting a deal, making things even harder for New York to get a deal done. They may need to give up someone like RJ Barrett to seal the deal.

Stay tuned, Mitchell will likely be the next big star to be traded.

Josh Wilson

Josh is currently the Managing Editor of FanSided.com. He has worked with FanSided in some capacity for a total of eight years, starting as a contributor for Swarm and Sting, Toro Times, and HoopsHabit in 2015. He served as a site expert for The Sixer Sense during 'The Process' years while starting his educational track at Temple University as a journalism student. He later transferred to the State University of New York at Cortland where he completed his B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in journalism. For FanSided, Josh worked as Operations Assistant before taking on a role as Editorial Director of the NBA Division, a role he held for three years. Along the way he also helped start and lead the FanSided fellowship program which created a path for several young journalists to start their careers in sports media. Nothing is more important to Josh than Yankee wins and his family.