Knicks, Cavaliers — and their two stars — can't escape each other

To take you back three years — not so long ago to have forgotten, but perhaps long enough to fade from consciousness — the Knicks were hot on the trail for Donovan Mitchell.

They were outbid by the Cavaliers in practical terms, since No. 45 is now in Cleveland, but the Knicks also weren’t given an opportunity to match the winning offer. That process led to belief around the NBA that Danny Ainge, president of the Utah Jazz, had no intention of sending Mitchell to his preferred destination of NYC.

Barring a published Ainge memoir, we’ll probably never know if that’s accurate. Ainge could still applaud his trade return of Lauri Markkanen, a forward from Finland who has flirted with stardom. The Knicks weren’t offering a player with Markkanen’s upside.

RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Qu