Cleveland traded an all-star (Lauri Markkanen), a 6th man (Collin Sexton), two first round pick swaps and 4 first round picks to the Jazz for Donovan Mitchell. They would need to get something near that value in return. OG isn’t an all-star, but he is an 1st team all-defense level player. Hartenstein isn’t a 6th man, but he’s an extremely valuable bench big-man. And the three firsts aren’t the 4 that Cleveland sent out, but Ochai Ogbaji didn’t really pan out anyway. Lastly, the Knicks aren’t even sending pick swaps in this deal.
Mitchell’s trade value has never been higher after his incredible performances in games 6 and 7 of the Magic series. Cleveland gets two young assets to help build their young core around and New York gets their superstar. This is the most realistic Mitchell trade scenario out there. The Cavs won’t make the same mistake they made with Kyrie in 2018. They won’t trade Mitchell for pennies on the dollar. Being honest, they might even get more than this in a Mitchell trade.
Some final notes… I’m not sure if New York even wants Mitchell at this point. If they’re smart, they’ll see how awkward it is when he and Garland are on the floor together and they won’t want that for Brunson. I would sooner expect them to trade for Mikal Bridges than I would Mitchell, but I could be dead wrong.
Another point I’d like to address is the sign and trade contracts for both OG and Hartenstein. I have no clue what kind of contracts those two will be getting. If you think they’ll get more money, that’s fine. Cleveland is losing salary in the current trade, so there’s room to play with as far as the cap is concerned. Even if both guys get substantially more money, Cleveland has tradeable contracts they can throw in such as Dean Wade, Georges Niang and Max Strus.
Overall, I’d consider this trade a win-win. New York finally gets their guy and Cleveland gets compensation that is at least comparable to what they sent out for Mitchell a few years back.
Quite honestly, Mitchell could be using these trade rumors to squeeze Cleveland for a Super-max contract (a detail that no one is discussing). Believe it or not, he does enjoy being in Cleveland and has embraced the city. He seems to be quite close with DG and can be seen going to both Indians and Browns games with Garland wearing various Cleveland attire. Don’t rule out the possibility of Mitchell signing the Super-Max in Cleveland and becoming the highest paid player in the league.