The New York Knicks fee like their trade proposals including RJ Barrett to the Utah Jazz for Donovan Mitchell were better than the one that was accepted from the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell Stefan Body of the New York Daily News.
The Jazz were long aware of how much the Knicks coveted a trade for Mitchell and they also possessed enough draft capital to theoretically beat any competing offer. The Knicks, however, tried not to bid against themselves for Mitchell, but the reemergence of the Cleveland Cavaliers gave the Jazz an alternative deal. The Jazz, for their part, reportedly didn’t try to use the Cavaliers as leverage to get the Knicks to improve their offer.
The Jazz were initially believed to not be interested in Barrett at all, but then reporting indicated that they did want him in a trade for Mitchell. The Jazz received three unprotected first round picks from the Cavaliers along with Collin Sexton on a new four-year, $72 million deal plus Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji.
