After it was reported Monday that the Knicks were signing RJ Barrett to a max extension, it was believed they would be out of trade talks regarding Donovan Mitchell. Evidently, this may not be true.
According to both ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the extension doesn’t mean New York is out of talks, but it complicates a potential deal because any trade package for the Jazz star would include Barrett.
The Knicks closed the gap in talks for Mitchell on Sunday but Knicks president Leon Rose gave all parties involved a Monday night deadline or else the team would sign Barrett to an extension, per Wojnarowski. Because they were unable to get a deal done, New York signed Barrett to a four-year rookie extension that can be worth up to $120 million. New York wanted to send Barrett to Utah still on his rookie contract, but both sides couldn’t reach an agreement.
