He Was Almost a Knick
Four years ago, Donovan Mitchell wanted to be a New York Knick. He grew up in Elmsford — Westchester, forty minutes north of the city — dreaming about the Garden. His agent was at CAA, same firm as Knicks President, Leon Rose. He was 25, a three-time All-Star, and the Jazz were ready to move on. Everything was pointing the same direction.
There were discussions, but the Knicks blinked.
Fast forward to Game 7 against the Pistons, on the road, Sunday night in Detroit. Mitchell posts 26 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and zero turnovers as the Cleveland Cavaliers completely dismantle the top-seeded Pistons 125–94 to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018. Their opponent will be the New York Knicks with Game 1 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
"Me and my fiancée joked that we were going home regardless," Mitchell said after. "So we might as well play some basketball while we're at the crib."
He's been waiting nine years to say something like that.
Mitchell has had numerous postseasons. But he's never made it this far.
The numbers Mitchell has put up in the playoffs over his career are legitimately staggering. He is one of three players in NBA history — alongside Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain — to score 50-plus points in three different playoff games. He averaged 28.3 points per game across five postseason runs in Utah. In Cleveland he has been even more consistent, raising his game every April and May without fail.
And yet, until this postseason, a Mitchell-led team had never reached a Conference Finals. In 2020, his Jazz blew a 3–1 lead to Denver in the bubble. In 2021, Utah went up 2–0 on the Clippers and still lost in six. After the trade to Cleveland, he made the playoffs three straight years — reaching Round 2 twice — and lost both times, first to Boston in 2024 when injury wrecked the series, then as the odds-on favorite, to Indiana in five games last spring. After the last one, Kendrick Perkins called the Cavaliers' season "a complete failure," specifically singling out the fact that a Mitchell-led team had never gotten past the second round.
Mitchell acknowledged the reputational impact. "Obviously, you're judged by conference finals and finals. That's my mindset," he told Cleveland.com in 2024. "First round, second round is cool. I'm taking it one round at a time. But my goal is to make the conference finals and get to the NBA Finals. That's what I'm judged on."
Sunday night in Detroit, he took a step toward creating a different narrative.
"It's been almost a decade of running into the same issue," he said. "So for sure, I personally, and as a team, we can breathe a little bit."
Before he was a seven-time All-Star, Mitchell was a sophomore guard at Louisville playing under Rick Pitino in the ACC. He's since admitted he nearly quit basketball entirely during his freshman year — the program was demanding, the minutes scarce, the adjustment brutal. He averaged 7.4 points as a freshman. By his sophomore season he was leading the team at 15.6 and earned First-Team All-ACC, used that breakout to get himself into the 2017 draft. Selected 13th by Denver, traded that same night to Utah. The next nine years he built one of the most prolific playoff scoring résumés the league has seen from a guard.
That résumé now has a Conference Finals on it, and Sunday looked nothing like the volume-scorer reputation that has sometimes trailed him. It wasn't Mitchell going for 40. He opened the game with an alley-oop to Evan Mobley, had three assists in the first three minutes, and trusted his teammates in a way that unlocked everything Cleveland does. Mobley finished with 21. Jarrett Allen had 23. Sam Merrill came off the bench and scored 23. Four Cavaliers with 20-plus in a playoff game — that ties a franchise record. Cleveland has now won six consecutive Game 7s.
"He had complete control of the game," coach Kenny Atkinson said. "His defense, rebounding, when he gets in the paint and starts making other people better — that was the key."
The story of how Mitchell ended up in Cleveland instead of New York is one of the stranger front-office sagas of recent NBA history. When Utah made him available in the summer of 2022, the Knicks were the frontrunner. Mitchell had grown up rooting for New York teams, specifically wanted to play in the city, and was repped by CAA — Leon Rose's old agency. It was set up.
What followed, depending on your read, was either disciplined asset management or a catastrophic miscalculation.
Reports at the time had the Knicks offering RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, and multiple first-round picks — but drawing the line at including Quentin Grimes as an additional sweetener. When Utah asked for a third unprotected first to replace Grimes, New York would only offer one with top-five protection. The Jazz pivoted. Cleveland stepped in and gave up Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected firsts, and two pick swaps.
"They whiffed on a softball," one NBA source told Bleacher Report. "The Knicks thought they were bidding against themselves. The Cavaliers beg to differ."
Mitchell had heard what New York was putting on the table. "I was told it was RJ and hella picks," he said afterward.
Here's the thing though — the Knicks' strategy didn't fall apart. They signed Jalen Brunson instead, built around him, reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025, and have been one of the East's best teams for three straight years. Brunson is averaging 26.0 points and 6.8 assists this season. The preserved assets became the foundation of a real contender. Both outcomes are defensible but this series puts the impact of that decision in stark relief.
The Knicks are -245 series favorites, rested after sweeping Philadelphia in four, and holding home court advantage. New York also won two of three regular-season matchups between these teams, both wins coming at the Garden.
This series presents a true challenge for Mitchell and the Cavs. Brunson is averaging 27.4 points in the playoffs so far. Karl-Anthony Towns brings size, shooting, and 11.9 rebounds per game to an interior that will test Allen and Mobley. OG Anunoby, back from a hamstring strain, and Mikal Bridges give New York two of the best perimeter defenders in the East.
The argument for Cleveland is balance, which has been a challenge for New York. Four different Cavaliers scored 20-plus in Game 7. The Cavs will run pick-and-roll actions at Brunson and Towns repeatedly, hunting mismatches. Cleveland is 7–0 at home this postseason also so if they are able to win one at MSG, the odds could shift swiftly.
The Knicks passed on him. He went to Cleveland. Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden the question of whether that was the right call finally has a real stage to play out on.
As Mitchell said, "It's going to be special, for sure."
Game 1 tips off Tuesday, May 19 at Madison Square Garden. 8 p.m. ET, ESPN.
Sources
¹ Mitchell quotes postgame, Game 7 — Fox Sports, May 18, 2026: https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nba/cavs-donovan-mitchell-breaks-through-reaching-the-conference-finals-for-the-first-time
² Game 7 recap and box score — NBA.com, May 18, 2026: https://www.nba.com/news/4-takeaways-cavaliers-pistons-game-7
³ Mitchell "breath of fresh air" quote — ESPN, May 18, 2026: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48802182/mitchell-cavs-break-dispatch-pistons-make-ecf
⁴ Mitchell career playoff history and "judged on" quote — King James Gospel / Cleveland.com, 2024: https://kingjamesgospel.com/cavaliers-finally-granted-donovan-mitchell-longtime-wish
⁵ Kendrick Perkins "complete failure" — Basketball Network / Newsbreak, 2025: https://www.newsbreak.com/basketballnetwork-net-1600330/4007024801193-a-donovan-mitchell-led-team-has-never-been-to-a-conference-finals-kendrick-perkins-labels-cavaliers-season-a-complete-failure
⁶ Knicks–Jazz trade talks, "whiffed on a softball" — Bleacher Report, September 2022: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10047449-nba-insiders-new-york-knicks-whiffed-on-a-softball-in-donovan-mitchell-trade-talks
⁷ Trade offer details (Grimes, picks breakdown) — CBS Sports, September 2022: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/knicks-missed-out-on-donovan-mitchell-trade-because-they-refused-to-include-quentin-grimes-in-deal-per-report/
⁸ Mitchell "RJ and hella picks" quote — Bleacher Report, November 2022: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10055394-donovan-mitchell-heard-knicks-trade-offer-included-rj-barrett-hella-draft-picks
⁹ Knicks–Mitchell vindication context — Daily Knicks, May 2026: https://dailyknicks.com/knicks-closing-definitive-opportunity-donovan-mitchell-vindication
¹⁰ Cavaliers–Pistons series stats, Mitchell career numbers — Sports Illustrated / Louisville, May 2026: https://www.si.com/college/louisville/basketball/donovan-mitchell-2026-eastern-conference-finals
¹¹ Game 7 detailed takeaways — Fear The Sword, May 18, 2026: https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-analysis/49609/cavs-takeaways-detroit-pistons-cleveland-cavaliers-donovan-mitchell-james-harden-game-7-nba-playoffs-evan-mobley-jarrett-allen-cade-cunningham-max-strus
¹² Knicks–Cavaliers ECF series preview — NBA.com, May 2026: https://www.nba.com/news/2026-nba-playoffs-series-preview-knicks-cavs
¹³ Knicks 2025–26 regular-season stats — RealGM: https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/New-York-Knicks/20/stats
¹⁴ Knicks–Cavaliers ECF odds — Sports Betting Dime, May 2026: https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/news/nba/knicks-vs-cavaliers-eastern-conference-finals-series-odds-prediction/