Jazz Must Beware Prioritizing Picks Over Players in Donovan Mitchell Trade with Knicks

Danny Ainge has to walk this razor's edge in a prospective trade with the Knicks.

The New York Knicks have a plethora of future draft picks and young talent that the Utah Jazz will be targeting as they try to trade Donovan Mitchell.

Tony Jones of The Athletic recently stated on ESPN radio that Jazz executive Danny Ainge would prefer picks over players if a trade were to occur.

“If you’re Danny Ainge, the value of this deal comes from unprotected picks,” Jones said. 

But there’s a problem with loading up on draft capital from the Knicks. New York would have a solid young core of RJ Barrett (22), Jalen Brunson (25), and Mitchell (25) entering their prime years. Could the Knicks be hitting a window where they’ll be in playoff contention year in and year out? At the least, this is not a team headed for the lottery.

This wouldn’t be good for the Jazz. It might be a challenge to get equal value back for Mitchell if the compensation ended up being selections in the 20s down the road.

The good news is the Knicks have three up-and-comers that should be prioritized by Utah over picks if a trade were to take place.

Don’t let Obi Toppin’s stat line of nine points and 3.7 rebounds per game fool you. The development of the former No. 8 pick in the 2020 draft has been stalled because Julius Randle took most of the minutes at the 4, but in the last five games of the regular season, he was given an opportunity to shine. 

Toppin averaged 27 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 55% from the field. It’s unlikely the Jazz would do better with a late or mid-first rounder.

Quentin Grimes is only one year into his rookie deal and is another player who has a huge upside but hasn’t had the opportunity to get minutes in New York. His stock recently went up as he earned first-team honors in this year's Summer League while averaging 22.6 points a game. 

Grimes is 6-foot-5 with a wing span of 6-foot-8 with a chance of being an elite defender, and Salt Lake City is a perfect place to get the live reps to develop. The chances of the Jazz getting a player as good as Grimes with a draft pick above No. 15 is definitely plausible, but less than a 50-50 proposition.

Immanuel Quickley is another young player that’s already cemented his place as a solid rotation piece in the league. He averaged 11 points in just 23 minutes a game last year, and at only 22 years of age, may have just scratched the surface. 

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Knicks were 12.2 points better per 100 possessions when Quickley was in the game. The former first-round pick out of Kentucky will be a backup with the addition of Mitchell and Brunson, but could start in Salt Lake City if the Jazz were to clean house.

Toppin, Grimes, and Quickley could all be under team control for 6-7 years, which is vital for a small-market team that knows all too well the difficulty of drawing talent to Utah via free agency. Now, this doesn’t mean that picks shouldn’t be a part of a trade, but these three players need to be priority No. 1.

Ainge should be commended for the haul that was acquired in the Rudy Gobert trade, but prioritizing picks over players with the Knicks could prove costly. 

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Follow Patrick on Twitter @pbyrnesNBA.

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