Everyone was paying close attention to the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell over the last couple of months.
Rumors of Mitchell leaving the Jazz were running rampant throughout the league and there were a few teams eager to land the superstar player.
For a long time, it looked like the New York Knicks were going to get Mitchell.
In fact, it seemed like the deal was as good as done for a moment…then it wasn’t.
Knicks executive William Wesley, aka "World Wide Wes" told Charles Barkley that the Jazz were 'trying to rip somebody off' during the Donovan Mitchell trade negotiations 👀pic.twitter.com/rfWoVFSGZV
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) September 9, 2022
Shockingly, the Cleveland Cavaliers secured Mitchell and, in an instant, radically changed the future of the Eastern Conference.
What went wrong with the Knicks and their plan to acquire Mitchell?
Charles Barkley spoke to NBA Radio and gave the inside scoop.
Barkley talked with Knicks executive William Wesley and Wesley said that the Jazz were playing incredible hardball for Mitchell.
“[The Jazz] wanted my wife, they wanted my kids, they wanted my grandkids. They were just trying to rip somebody off,” Wesley allegedly informed Barkley.
Based on what we saw from the outside of the situation, this feels fairly accurate.
No To The Knicks
Much like the Brooklyn Nets with Kevin Durant, the Utah Jazz weren’t going to move Mitchell for any small amount.
They wanted a monster trade package and it became apparently clear that they wouldn’t budge at all until they were offered just that.
This isn’t surprising considering that Jazz mastermind Danny Ainge was able to secure a king’s ransom for Rudy Gobert just weeks before the Mitchell trade.
You can’t blame the Jazz for demanding a lot because, in the end, they got just that.
They turned both Gobert and Mitchell into multiple players and several huge future draft picks too.
For the Knicks, this entire situation will haunt them for some time to come, especially during their next game against the Cavaliers.
NEXT: Latest Trade Proves The Jazz Are Good At Keeping Secrets