Donovan Mitchell ‘comfortable’ with staying or going

The Miami Heat have seemed no closer to landing another big-name player in recent days than they have all summer. Somewhere in the mix for the services of Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell, according to all reports, the Miami Heat are just like everybody else on the former.

With Durant and the Brooklyn Nets in a stalemate, leverage is the key to those discussions. Neither side really has it and it appears that both sides are comfortable letting things play out as they may and for as long as that takes.

While that is the case there, the other mentioned situation revolving around Mitchell had practically gone radio silent—until Tuesday. There is news on that front!

According to the reports, the New York Knicks are back on the hunt for the electric young combo guard.

The Miami Heat are no closer to landing another big name and the gap may have just widened. The Knicks are, again, hot on the trail of Donovan Mitchell.

Here is a notable quote from the piece of mention, coming from Shams Charania and Tony Jones of The Athletic (subscription required).

Throughout trade talks, the Knicks have made their interest in Mitchellabundantly clear, one source with knowledge of the situation said. The Knicks and Jazz seriously discussed a Mitchell trade during the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League in mid-July, but talks stalled out and led to nearly a month of inactivity between the sides. Now, with training camp just over one month away, the sides have re-ignited talks. Hurdles toward a deal remain.

Utah has set a high price threshold for Mitchell, who so far is believed to be comfortable with either outcome of staying with the Jazz or being traded elsewhere, sources said. Mitchell, 25, has made three consecutive All-Star appearances and has averaged 23.9 points, 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds over his five NBA seasons.

Well, it looks like the Miami Heat are on the outside looking in there too. With the report indicating that “there is no traction between the two teams on a deal”, it also noted the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards as teams also “pursuing Mitchell”.

It’s looking more and more like the dream of landing another superstar type won’t happen before the year tips off. With that, the Miami Heat must go out and make something happen to give them depth in the ranks of their forwards, at the very least.

Pat Riley and the rest of the crew are much smarter than us on the topic though, so, you trust whatever they’ll do there. Hopefully and for whatever that may be, may it happen sooner than later.