Rick Pitino: Knicks' Donovan Mitchell Trade Would Be 'Very Special'

One former Knicks coach lauded the potential arrival of a future player.

Though his time at the helm of the New York Knicks has long ended, Rick Pitino is still making an impact on Empire State basketball: the long-tenured hardwood head coach is set to enter his third season at the helm of Iona College's men's basketball team in New Rochelle and is fresh off a 25-win season with the Gaels, their best out put since 2014-15. 

Speaking with the New York Post, Pitino was willing to look back on two forms of his basketball past to address the future. By now, anyone remotely associated with the Knicks is aware of their pursuit of Pitino's former pupil, ex-University of Louisville star Donovan Mitchell. The pair collaborated for two seasons during some of the Cardinals's earliest days in the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

The Post's report declared that Pitino originally hoped that Mitchell would go to the Knicks when he was available with the eighth pick of the 2017 draft. New York management, then headed by Phil Jackson, instead selected current Dallas Maverick Frank Ntilikina before Mitchell went to the Utah Jazz at No. 13.

Should Mitchell arrive in New York, he'd form a highly touted pairing with fellow Western Conference-based newcomer Jalen Brunson, remarking that head coach Tom Thibodeau is "an outstanding coach" to figure out how'd they work together. Pitino also believes pairing the Knicks with the three-time All-Star is hardwood fate considering Mitchell hails from Elmsford in Westchester County.

“Donovan loves the Knicks,’’ Pitino said. “Donovan loves being around his mom, sister and dad. Donovan would treasure being a Knick. That being said, things have to work out. I’m hoping, keeping my fingers crossed that he becomes a Knick. It would be very special for me as a coach seeing him in a Knick uniform as an ex-Knick coach.”

Pitino knows the right recipe to rectify a rut in the realm of the Knicks: when he took over for Hubie Brown in 1987, starting the first of two seasons with the team before he returned to the collegiate level at Kentucky, the Knicks had endured three consecutive three seasons with less than 30 wins. New York reached the NBA playoffs in each of his two seasons, the first appearances of Patrick Ewing's cherished career. He believes that Mitchell can leave a sizable impact on the Knicks' franchise fortunes. 

"We all know Donovan is very talented on offense, but Donovan is as talented as polished a human being as any person I’ve ever met,’’ Pitino said. “(He's) a very well-educated young man who knows everything right to say. But he’s highly, highly competitive. He’ll do anything to win a basketball game. But when the game is over and the mikes are all in his face, you have to deal with the media in a positive way. Donovan will be outstanding in that, just terrific at that.’’ 

Iona, looking to return to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after Pitino helped get them there in 2021, opens its 2022-23 season on Nov. 6 against Pennsylvania. The Knicks face Memphis in their opener on Oct. 19. 

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags