The New York Knicks and Utah Jazz appear to be at a stalemate in their Donovan Mitchell trade talks, but there is still plenty to talk about when it comes to such a busy offseason.
To do so Friday afternoon, I hosted Fred Katz — who's a native New Yorker now covering the Knicks for The Athletic — for an hour of live chat via Spotify Live to get into it all.
Among the topics we covered:
🏀 All the latest scuttle from the Mitchell trade front.
🏀 How many of the Knicks' own first-round picks, compared to those acquired from other teams, that we think it will take to entice Utah to make the trade.
🏀 Fred's contention that the Knicks remain such heavy favorites to ultimately land Mitchell because even their second-, third- or fourth-best offers are likely to beat out the competition.
🏀 The pressure on the Knicks' front office to get this done given the mandate president of basketball operations Leon Rose faces to acquire a true All-Star.
🏀 The reaction to New York's signing of Jalen Brunson and various aspects of the Mitchell/Brunson fit.
🏀 How other Jazz veterans acquired from Minnesota in the Rudy Gobert deal may or may not figure into Mitchell discussions.
🏀 My contention that the trade won't be held up by haggling over the likes of Quentin Grimes or Obi Toppin if the sides can ultimately come to an agreement on draft compensation.
🏀 We also get into LeBron James' looming eligibility for a contract extension in Los Angeles starting next week as well as the Lakers' ongoing attempts to trade Russell Westbrook.
🏀 Fred's history covering Westbrook in both Oklahoma City and Washington.
🏀 There are also multiple examples of my signature lack of pop culture knowledge.
If you weren't able to join us live ... fear not. Full-fledged subscribers to The Stein Line, as always, get a recording sent to them after the fact to catch up at your leisure on a fun hour of chat about the latest headlines around the league.
