Playoff Lookahead: Who will come out between the Cavs and Knicks?
(AP Photo/Nick Cammett)
New York, NY (PSF)—On, Saturday, April 15th the New York Knicks will enter the playoffs as a five seed in the Eastern Conference and will play the four seed Cleveland Cavilers in the first round. The last time the Knicks made the playoffs was the 2020-2021 season where the favored Knicks would go on to lose to an Atlanta Hawks team in five games. The Knicks are with a different roster this time, and are looking to have a different outcome then their last playoff appearance, but with Donavan Mitchell and the Cavs ahead of them Knicks fans are nervous.
A story filled matchup between these two teams and Donovan Mitchell is the centerpiece. The Cavs will face the Knicks, and this will be the first time the Cavs have made a playoff appearance since the 2018-2019 season. The Cavs last playoff appearance was Lebron James last year with the team. It’s been four years since the Cavs have been in the playoffs, and the credit for the Cavs recent success, goes to the Cavs young talent and Donovan Mitchell who was a result from a massive surprise trade. Mitchell, who was traded from the Utah Jazz did all he can for that team as he spent his first five years for that team where he averaged 23.9 points, 4.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. Mitchell from the year he was drafted in 2017 became the Jazz’s star alongside Rudy Gobert and led his team to playoff appearances in all his years there. Donovan has been named an All-Star four times already and really can be classified as an “superstar” as he might be the best Shooting Guard in the whole league.
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So, what is the history between Mitchell and the Knicks? Well, there isn’t bad blood between the Knicks and Mitchell, only that it looked like the Knicks was Mitchell intended landing spot after the Jazz’s made it clear it was going into rebuild mode. The farthest the Jazz have ever gone with Donovan and the roster that was put around him was the second round, even with the 2020-2021 season where they were the first seed. It was a bittersweet departing from the Jazz as they plan to rebuild and this was evident when they traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the offseason. When the news that Mitchell was up for grabs for any team, the narrative from fans and the media was that the Knicks where the prime landing spot. The main reason was because Mitchell is from the New York and the Westchester area, and it’s evident that a hometown reunion was what Mitchell desired. His father works for the New York Mets, he is a fan of the Mets and the Jazz would have tried to send Mitchell to a place he desired as Mitchell deserved it by his play for the Jazz.
Knicks fans were joyful and happy because of the rumors of Mitchell coming to the Knicks as everyone felt that the trade was inevitable. This would only sour Knicks fans more as the trade for Mitchell to the Cavs would shock the NBA world, but the writing was on the wall as the talks between the Jazz and Knicks would stall. Now the Knicks recovered after the trade by signing Jalen Brunson to a contract and resigning RJ Barrett to an extension. Both teams are good and will face each other, so whoever wins can claim that they also won the trade that never went through. If you’re excited for a first-round matchup between two good teams, the storyline will also add to an anticipated matchup.
