At this point it’s well known that the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks are discussing a trade around star guard Donovan Mitchell.
For a player of his caliber, Utah can demand an absurd amount of picks as well as young players. New York has both, which is why it continues to seem likely that the Knicks end up with Mitchell at some point in the future.
While other teams could certainly offer better players than the Knicks could, it appears the Jazz are about to undergo a rebuild. As such, draft capital is primarily what they’re after.
With that in mind, there’s only one team that truly has more picks to offer than New York does. That team is the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oklahoma City has 15 first-round picks and 13 second-rounders between now and the 2029 draft. Not only is this a large number of picks, but the Thunder also have quality picks, including all seven of their first rounders in this timeframe.
Is Thunder GM Sam Presti entertaining an offer for Mitchell at this time? Not that we know of to this point. However, the assets are there.
It appears OKC is happy with where its roster is at heading into next season, but if there’s a change of heart on that front the Thunder could truly rival the Knicks in a deal for Mitchell. He’s young, fits the Thunder’s rebuild timeline and would be a much-needed scorer alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Right now it appears the Knicks are the most likely destination, but the Thunder could truly rival them for a Mitchell trade package if they wanted to get in the mix and escalate the rebuild.
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