If Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is to be believed, the Knicks’ and Nets’ hopes of landing Donovan Mitchell may be shattering.
Gilbert told the Associated Press on Thursday he thinks Mitchell, the 27-year-old five-time All-Star, will sign a contract extension to remain in Cleveland long term.
“We’ve been talking to him, sure, for the last couple of years about extending this contract,” Gilbert told the AP. “We think he will extend. I think if you listen to him talk, he loves the city.
“He loves the situation in Cleveland because our players are very young and we’re just kind of putting the core together that he’s clearly the biggest part of.”
Mitchell, who can become a free agent after the 2024-25 NBA season, is eligible to sign a four-year, approximately $200 million contract extension with the Cavaliers after this season.
The Knicks were in trade talks with the Jazz regarding Mitchell, a Westchester native, in the summer of 2022, but they were outbid by the Cavs.
Knicks GM Leon Rose would ostensibly be interested again if Mitchell rebuffed Cleveland’s extension offer and the team was open to trading him.
The price would be lower than the price Cleveland paid — three first-round picks, two pick swaps, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji — because Mitchell would have only one year left on his contract.
But the Knicks’ willingness to get involved for Mitchell again will depend on how their season ends and who else is available.
The Nets, who look set to miss the play-in tournament and have to hire a new head coach, have also been linked to a potential Mitchell pursuit.
The Knicks, who beat the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs last year, entered Thursday with a half-game lead over Cleveland for third place in the Eastern Conference.