Knicks getting bad news in Donovan Mitchell pursuit?

For roughly the 4,751st time, the New York Knicks may be whiffing on one of their top offseason targets.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Sunday a list of initial candidates for the Utah Jazz’s head coaching job amid the resignation of Quin Snyder. One of the notable names on the list was New York Knicks assistant coach Johnnie Bryant.

The 36-year-old Bryant used to be with the Jazz organization, serving as an assistant for them from 2014 to 2020. Having coached Donovan Mitchell in Utah during Mitchell’s first three seasons in the NBA, Bryant is seen as a primary selling point in the Knicks’ pitch for Mitchell this offseason.

If Bryant were to leave the Knicks to reunite with the Jazz and Mitchell, that could obviously doom the Knicks’ chances of landing the multi-time All-Star Mitchell. The Knicks do have some other advantages in luring Mitchell, who is a New York native. But they will probably be crossing all their collective fingers that Bryant does not end up as Utah’s next head coach.