Would Donovan Mitchell trade request help or hurt Miami Heat acquisition?

Miami Heat: A Mitchell Request Doesn’t Do A Ton For Miami… Exclusively

The Miami Heat would prefer to acquire Kevin Durant over Donovan Mitchell, but it seems like Mitchell is the easier star to acquire between the two. That being said, the path to a Donovan Mitchell trade would still be extremely difficult for the Heat.

The Miami Heat lost a lot of momentum in regard to a Mitchell acquisition, but videos of Donovan Mitchell teaming up with Bam Adebayo at the Miami Pro League have given the city a little more hope.

Despite being one of the top names in trade rumors this offseason, Donovan Mitchell has never officially requested a trade. Would it benefit the Miami Heat for him to officially demand a trade?

It’s tough to say, but probably not. One of the benefits to Mitchell requesting a trade is that the Jazz would have less leverage and therefore his price would drop a little.

That being said though, that also means the price is lower for other teams. With an organization as desperate to be relevant as the Knicks, the Heat would have a difficult time trumping any offer that New York could make without giving up too much.

The Miami Heat are a smart organization. Its leaders are not going to sacrifice more than they have to in order to acquire a star.

Although either of these stars would help them win a championship, the asking price seems like a lot to risk right now. An official trade request could change that for Donovan Mitchell, but the Heat won’t be able to keep up with the Knicks, who are going to be pressed by their fans to give up as many picks as necessary to acquire the Jazz guard.

The Heat are at risk of taking a step back compared to last season. Considering how close the team actually was to winning a championship last year, it would be a huge disappointment to see them regress.