One team that seems willing to give up most of its big contracts with a rebuild in mind is the Utah Jazz, who are pushing the idea of trading Donovan Mitchell before the 2022-23 NBA season.
The New York Knicks’ interest in the 25-year-old point guard is very serious, but due to what the Jazz are requesting, the inclusion of the Los Angeles Lakers as a third figure would be necessary to finalize the negotiations. This possibility has apparently been discussed and is being considered by all three teams, as revealed by HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
The Lakers, Knicks & Jazz reportedly had conversations on a potential 3-team trade:
Jazz:
Russell Westbrook (Bought out)
Draft picks from NY & LAKnicks:
Donovan MitchellLakers:
Patrick Beverley
Jordan Clarkson
Bojan Bogdanovic OR Malik Beasley(via @MikeAScotto) pic.twitter.com/DyKTQWW61X
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 5, 2022
On the one hand, the Knicks would add Donovan Mitchell, thus fulfilling their wish for the new season, the Lakers could choose three players from a group made up of Patrick Beverley, Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic and Malik Beasley, while the Jazz would keep Russell Westbrook along with multiple future first-round draft picks.
In the particular case of Utah, one of the first determinations for the new season would be to release Westbrook by paying him his remaining contract and thus keeping a lot of material thinking about the future, in addition to giving the veteran the possibility of going to a team of his choice in free agency.
