Cleveland Just Saved The Knicks From Themselves

It’s finally over. After what feels like a millennium of Donovan Mitchell trade rumors, the Utah Jazz have finally shipped him off to Cleveland. Knicks fans should be celebrating like they just won a championship after avoiding a franchise-altering trade that would have sent a bajillion first-round picks and every young asset on the roster away for a guy who can score 25 points on 40 shot attempts while playing zero defense and fighting with teammates for no reason.

Yes, Donovan Mitchell is only 26 years old and has 3 All-Star games under his belt. But D’Angelo Russell and Andrew Wiggins have played in All-Star games too and no one is rushing to give all their draft picks away for them.

Mitchell also has a 50-point playoff game under his belt which is a huge accomplishment if you ignore the context of his feat: it was in the NBA bubble with zero fans in attendance and the vibes of an intense offseason scrimmage. Try dropping those same 50 points IN Denver in front of Jokic’s rabid polar bear brothers.

This is a smart move for the Cavaliers. Swapping Collin Sexton—a ball-dominant weirdo they had no intentions of re-signing—for Donovan Mitchell—a guy who restored Utah’s relevance in the NBA—is a net positive for Cleveland. He’s joining Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. That’s a top 4 seed in the East for the foreseeable future. Good for them.

However, that same roster construction and upside would not exist in New York. The Knicks would have to give up some version of RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes thus eliminating their entire young core and being left with some mismatch group of guys who don’t make sense on a court together.

I just want Knicks fans who wanted this trade to reallyyyy think what this team would look like with Jalen Brunson, Evan Fournier, Julius Randle and Derrick Rose out there with Donovan Mitchell. You’d have no draft picks, young players or cap room for any real flexibility to improve. There’d be no future and no upside. You’d have to hope every single player has the best seasons of their career just to maybe only lose to the Chicago Bulls by 4 points instead of 14.

Thank you to the Cavaliers for coming in at the 11th hour and saving the Knicks from making a trade that would set back the organization. We watched the Knicks STINK for so long that it makes no sense to trade all of these pieces that were acquired through all that losing just to go all in on a guy who would bring the team right back to losing but without the benefit of lottery picks.

The Knicks main priority right now should be getting Julius Randle the fuuuuck off the roster.

Last season, we saw a guy who signed a big contract and immediately turned into an asshole who didn’t play defense unless he just made a bucket on offense or would complain to the refs if he missed the shot. As long as the guy is on the team, there is no chance for the Knicks to succeed. Adding another piece—especially a piece that we saw beefing with Rudy Gobert last season—would only result in embarrassing losses to teams they have no business losing to.

This season, the Knicks should go all in on young talent. There is absolutely no reason why Evan Fournier should be playing more minutes than Cam Reddish. There is absolutely no reason why Derrick Rose should be playing more minutes than Quentin Grimes. There is absolutely no reason why Julius Randle should be playing.