Donovan Mitchell Trade to Knicks? Jazz Star Won't Say 'No'

The pieces fit. And in an NBA in which squeaky wheels get greased, maybe all Donovan Mitchell needs to do is ... squeak.

It makes hometown sense and family sense and financial sense.

Does Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell want to leave the small pond - well, the Salt Lake - to jump into the big ocean ... next to the Big Apple?

"My mindset is to win," Mitchell said when asked if he wished to be traded from Utah - essentially failing to shut down the idea. "Right now, I'm not really looking at that. ... I just want to win. This hurts, and like I said, I'll think about it in a week. Right now I'm not really thinking about any of that, to be completely honest with you."

Utah's first-round elimination on Thursday night at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks marks yet another failure by a Jazz team that keeps believing it is built to win ... but does not.

The Knicks have long been linked to Mitchell, for a number of reasons. One Eastern Conference scout tells Ric Bucher of Fox Sports back that the Jazz were "a first-round exit from Donovan being in New York."

Bucher also has cited "incessant buzz" that Mitchell has people who are friends and advisors who think he's destined to be a big star in a big city, adding that they believe "it's only a matter of time" before Mitchell ends up with the Knicks.

The connections? GM Leon Rose is his former agent. Mitchell's dad is a Mets exec. And Mitchell, 25, a $30-million APY-plus guy for the next four seasons, is a New York native.

The pieces fit. And in an NBA in which squeaky wheels get greased, maybe all Donovan Mitchell needs to do is ... squeak.