Donovan Drama Over

 

In the late afternoon of September 1st 2022, Adrian Wojnarkowski sent out a short tweet, only one sentence long: “The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Donovan Mitchell in a trade, sources tell ESPN”. At that moment, the hopes Knicks fans had, that Mitchell would be suiting up in blue and orange, evaporated into thin air. My first reaction was shock, Mitchell to the Cavs? How could they offer a better trade package than New York? However, as I read further into the story, my mind quickly changed.

In order to trade for the all-star, the Cleveland Cavaliers gave up a haul of players and picks. They traded Colin Sexton, a borderline all-star guard, who pre-injury last year was putting up 25 ppg, Lauri Markkanen, a seven-foot, sharpshooting forward, Ochair Agbaji, who was their first round pick this year, plus three unprotected picks and two pick swaps (also unprotected). I am glad that the Knicks’ front office made the right decision and not try and match what the Cavs were offering. A similar proposal from New York would have included, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Grimes/Quickley, plus three firsts and two swaps. That is way too much capital to give away for a team like the Knicks, who are still trying to build their team with youth from the ground up. Cleveland could afford to move Sexton, with the emergence of all-star Darius Garland playing the same position, and Lauri Markkanenen is replaceable. This was a good move for the Cavs, and now vaults them up to the top of the eastern conference.

The question remains, however, will the Knicks make any more moves before training camp and preseason begin? I would like to see the front office, as they didn’t want to move our younger players, really double down on the youth movement. The Knicks should try their best to move off of Julius Randle and Evan Fournier, guys we are paying a lot who are slowing down the development of young talent at their positions (Obi Toppin and Quentin Grimes respectively). With preseason coming up quickly, only about a month away, Leon Rose and co. have some decisions to make