Donovan Mitchell
Not only has he publicly stated that he was once a New York Knicks fan, but it seems destined that at one point in his career, Donovan Mitchell could go to New York to play in Madison Square Garden with the Knicks. Not only was Mitchell a player that a lot of teams, including the Knicks slept on in the 2017 NBA Draft, but he has turned himself into an NBA superstar in a matter of years.
Last season in the NBA Bubble, Donovan Mitchell set some big-time records and joined some elite company as well in just his third season in the league. In the playoff series against the Nuggets, both Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell joined Michael Jordan (1988) and Allen Iverson (2001) as the only players in NBA history to put up two 50-point games in a single playoff series.
Donovan Mitchell also scored 57-points in Game 1 of the series, setting a new Jazz single playoff game scoring record, passing Karl Malone who scored 50 points in 2000, as well as posting the third highest scoring total in a Playoff Game in NBA history behind Michael Jordan (63 points, 1986) and Elgin Baylor (61 points, 1961).
On top of all of these achievements for Donovan Mitchell, he also joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history who were 23 years old or younger to score 57+ points in a playoff game. Anytime your name is being brought up with Michael Jordan’s, it usually means you did something really good.
The list goes on-and-on for the kind of record-breaking season Donovan Mitchell had last year and so far this year, Mitchell has led the Jazz to a 14-4 record, the best record in the NBA. Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert and Jordan Clarkson are all fantastic players on this year’s Jazz team, but they are led by Mitchell and will go as far as he is able to take them.
This past offseason, the Jazz signed Donovan Mitchell to a five-year, $163M max-extension keeping him with the Jazz through the 2025-26 season should he opt into his player option for that season.
The Knicks would have to put together quite the trade package to land the soon two-time All-Star guard, but Donovan Mitchell is definitely a player they should monitor for years to come as he will continue his quest to become one of the best players in the entire league.
