Kevin Durant epic should guide Donovan Mitchell expectations

The Miami Heat were just freed from the grasp of the Kevin Durant rumors and though most of the current chatter around the league has existed all the while and simultaneous to that whole thing playing out, the Donovan Mitchell scenario continues to widen.

With the latest reports going as so far as to name his preferred destinations, it also gets real about which of those destinations could actually go about acquiring him. Here is a key part of the report as it relates to the Miami Heat, coming from Tony Jones of The Athletic (subscription required).

Mitchell hasn’t asked for a trade from the Jazz, according to sources. But, if he were to be traded, sources say, his preferred destination would be one of three places: the Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, or the Miami Heat. Mitchell can’t be traded to the Nets as long as Ben Simmons is on the roster, which makes that destination unlikely, and now even more unlikely with Kevin Durant staying put.

The Heat simply don’t have the assets that the Jazz are looking for, which makes that destination unlikely. The Knicks have the assets that the Jazz seek, which has made them a natural potential trade partner.

The Miami Heat seem to be stuck in a trade rumor loop. Being a preferred spot for Donovan Mitchell, it seems eerily similar to the Kevin Durant talk.

But hold it, wait a minute! Doesn’t this all seem too familiar?

Well, it should, as it seems eerily similar to the trajectory of the Kevin Durant deal that never was. While the semantics may not be exactly the same, as Mitchell hasn’t “asked” to be moved as Durant did, he has reportedly been noted to not have a preference about leaving or staying in Utah.

Saying it without saying it there, the next part is exactly as Durant did. Mitchell seems to have a list of places he wants to be, Miami or one of the two teams in his home state of New York.

In continuing with that same theme and especially when you consider the four first-round picks, five when you include the 2022 22nd pick in Walker Kessler, pick swap, and four other players that Utah got from Minnesota in the Rudy Gobert deal, Mitchell’s price to be moved will certainly draw similarities to the Durant situation.

No matter how it’s categorized, the easiest thing to say about the projected price is that it will probably be too much—too much to part with if you’re Pat Riley anyway. So, while it’s cool and all that Mitchell might have chosen the Miami Heat, nobody should get ahead of themselves.

Let the Durant fiasco be your guide here, meaning, it won’t happen for a while—if at all.