In the modern NBA, a player’s contract isn’t the only figure we use to gauge their trade value. An entirely new framework has emerged through which we can evaluate players:

How many first-round picks is he worth?

Currently, that’s the question of the day when it comes to Donovan Mitchell. It’s widely believed that the Jazz have him on the trading block.

After moving Rudy Gobert for a package that was largely built around draft capital, why shouldn’t they?

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This team has no chance to be better in 2022-23 than they were with Gobert. Since they’re in for a penny, they might as well go in for a pound. Trading Mitchell for as many draft picks as they can would set this team up to rebuild with an eye toward the future.

Here’s a trade that has the Knicks as the team that surrenders that draft capital.