Knicks' pursuit of Donovan Mitchell hits another roadblock
In recent weeks, the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz have been engaged in trade talks centered around All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell.
However, after the Knicks extended RJ Barrett, the negotiations have hit a roadblock, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Barrett’s extension – which makes him the youngest $100M player in Knicks history at 22 --- ends weeks of New York/Utah trade talks on Mitchell, and forces teams to start discussions over with significantly different deal parameters because of the Poison Pill provision.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 30, 2022
The Poison Pill provision makes it much more difficult to trade Barrett this year, as his outgoing salary in a trade would be $10.9 million, but his incoming salary for the team acquiring him would be $26.2 million. This restriction won't be lifted until July 1, 2023.
Knicks president Leon Rose gave the Jazz a Monday-night deadline to agree to a Mitchell trade. When the two sides failed to consummate a deal, New York proceeded with the Barrett extension instead.
New York’s Leon Rose set a Monday night deadline with Utah to reach an agreement on a trade for Mitchell – or the Knicks would commit to the Barrett extension, sources said. Knicks, Jazz closed gap on deal points in recent days on a Mitchell trade, but neither would go further.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 30, 2022
Wojnarowski notes that a Knicks-Jazz trade involving Mitchell isn't impossible, it's just much tougher. The Poison Pill restriction certainly complicates things.
The Jazz and Knicks can still find a pathway on a Donovan Mitchell trade, but it's just harder to do: Out of 179 NBA players who've had the Poison Pill restriction, only one -- Devin Harris in 2008 -- was traded. https://t.co/4frUsOZzNf
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 30, 2022
Bobby Marks of ESPN tweeted this helpful breakdown that shows why it's much tougher to deal Barrett now due to the Poison Pill provision:
Here’s an example of the poison pill restriction and the impact it has.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 30, 2022
One column works and the other doesn’t.
Video coming to explain this pic.twitter.com/TCRJXBGQfD