{"id":245160,"date":"2026-05-27T15:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/245160\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:11:36","slug":"should-the-brooklyn-nets-make-a-play-at-donovan-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/245160\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Brooklyn Nets Make a Play at Donovan Mitchell?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">The potential addition of Donovan Mitchell would provide the Brooklyn Nets with something they haven&#8217;t had since the Kevin Durant era: a star big enough to restore the Barclays Center&#8217;s status as a destination rather than a transit hub.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">The Cleveland Cavaliers have made the NBA Playoffs in each of the last four seasons with a core of Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Mitchell. The addition of James Harden got them to the furthest point in the postseason since 2018, but they were still swept in the conference finals. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"71\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NetsMuse\/status\/2059309025733275831?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Ringer&#8217;s Bill Simmons<\/a> commented on the Cavaliers&#8217; future and a potential trade with the Nets. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">&#8220;If Brooklyn called and said we&#8217;ll give you the sixth pick and our 2029 first for Mitchell, I would do it&#8230; I&#8217;m not even blinking,&#8221; Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"77\">The Nets have the cap space to take in Mitchell&#8217;s $50 million salary. They have around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netsdaily.com\/nets-free-agency-rumors-news\/107298\/smith-nets-likely-to-have-among-biggest-caches-of-cap-space-in-2026-27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">$40 million in projected cap room.<\/a> Cleveland, on the other hand, was over the second apron last season, and both Max Strus and Mitchell are extension eligible this offseason. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">Simmons&#8217; mock trade likely wouldn&#8217;t be done so easily on the Cavaliers side in reality. They are still in a position where they can retool instead of rebuild, and Brian Windhorst reported that a James Harden extension is already underway. Brooklyn also doesn&#8217;t have many players on its roster who would pique Cleveland&#8217;s interest, given its current direction and cap restrictions. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">This shouldn&#8217;t stop the Nets from at least making a bid at Mitchell. A player with his skill set could speed up their rebuild process. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7g\">Mitchell will be 30 at the start of next season, making him the oldest player on the current roster. Aside from all that he does as a scorer, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/cavaliers\/onsi\/kenny-atkinson-explains-how-donovan-mitchell-got-cavs-past-second-round-01krx870cfdx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">makes his teammates better<\/a> simply due to his work ethic and can be a good leader for Brooklyn&#8217;s young guards. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7j\">He has been an All-Star in seven straight seasons and is coming off one of his best scoring seasons inside the arc. Mitchell shot a career-high 57.7% on two-point attempts this past regular season. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">His season averages stood at 27.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He&#8217;s an underrated playmaker and defender, two skills that the Nets could desperately use more of. Mitchell took 20 shot attempts per game and still shot 48.4% from the field and 36.4% from three-point range. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">Brooklyn still doesn&#8217;t have a true point guard \u2013\u2013 barring a big leap from Egor D\u00ebmin or Nolan Traor\u00e9. Mitchell wouldn&#8217;t immediately fix this problem, as he&#8217;s more comfortably an off-ball guard, but there is a world where he could thrive as the primary playmaker for the Nets. <\/p>\n<p>Realistic Trade Package<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7v\">Nets Receive: <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7y\">\u2022 Donovan Mitchell<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">Cavaliers Receive:<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"84\">\u2022 Nolan Traor\u00e9 <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"87\">\u2022 2026 No. 6 pick   <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8a\">\u2022 2029 unprotected first round pick (NYK) <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8d\">\u2022 2030 top 10 protected first round pick (BKN) <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The potential addition of Donovan Mitchell would provide the Brooklyn Nets with something they haven&#8217;t had since the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-245160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}