Grade the Trade: Donovan Mitchell dealt to Big Apple in latest fantasy pitch

Laying out the Mitchell trade

The list of teams that would be interested in trading for Donovan Mitchell is long, and it likely includes teams that aren't even being discussed as potential destinations. At the top of the list, however, are three Eastern Conference teams: the Miami Heat, always ready to get into the mix for a star; and the two New York teams, the Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets.

The Knicks have a reasonably deep collection of prospects and draft picks to include in a deal, but the Nets are much more capable of putting together a compelling package for Donovan Mitchell without sacrificing their ability to compete with him.

That's what Bleacher Report highlighted when putting together a "Fantasy Deal" for Mitchell that would be good enough to entice the Cavaliers to come to the table. Here is what they laid out:

The Brooklyn Nets would land a star guard to be the No. 1 on offense, slotting Mikal Bridges easily into the No. 2 role he seems perfectly suited for. They still would have Cam Johnson starting at the 4 and Nic Claxton at the 5, giving them one of the best 2-5 groups in the league. Point guard would be an issue after giving up both Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Thomas, but the Nets would still have a few assets left to trade for one, or they could slide Mitchell to the 1 and place Royce O'Neale in the starting lineup.

Brooklyn would obviously prefer to use Ben Simmons as the matching salary instead of Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, but that's the kind of deal they can entertain if Mitchell were to go to the Cavaliers and tell them he wanted to be traded to Brooklyn. Without that leverage, they need to convince the Cavaliers to include them in the deal.

The Nets could conceivably offer this deal for Mitchell; would the Cavaliers be enticed enough to make the trade?