On Tuesday, five-time All-Star Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell inked a three-season contract extension worth an estimated $150.3 million to stick with the franchise, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The 6-foot-3 Louisville product, 27, will now remain with the Cavaliers through the 2027-28 season, when he’ll turn 31. He’ll have a player option for that year, worth an estimated $53.8 million.
Mitchell was flipped from the Utah Jazz to the Cavaliers during the summer of 2022. Under then-newly installed CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge, the Jazz had embarked on a comprehensive rebuild, which they are still in the midst of doing.
During his inaugural season in Cleveland, Mitchell helped the club achieve its first 50-plus win season since LeBron James‘ free agent departure to the Los Angeles Lakers after 2017-18. In 2022-23, the Cavaliers went 51-31 overall, and entered the playoffs as a No. 4 seed — where they promptly got annihilated in five games by Jalen Brunson’s No. 5-seeded New York Knicks. For his individual efforts as nominally the best player on the Cavaliers, Mitchell made his first-ever All-NBA Team that year.
This past season, the Cavaliers went 48-34 while grappling with injuries, but managed to survive an up-and-coming Orlando Magic squad in a seven-game first round series. Cleveland then fell in five games to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics, but in fairness the team was without one-time All-Star center Jarrett Allen for the entire series and Mitchell for its final two games.
Across 55 healthy regular season contests last season, Mitchell posted averages of 26.6 points on .462/.368/.865 shooting splits, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks a night.
With newly-installed head coach Kenny Atkinson now at the helm this summer and Mitchell now signed on for the long term, team president Koby Altman has some major decisions to make about his roster’s personnel.
Mitchell and All-Star backcourt mate Darius Garland have been an awkward fit on the hardwood together for the past two years, in large part because neither is a plus defender at his respective position and thus leaves the club vulnerable to high-flying opposing guards. Mitchell is a competent defender in a vacuum, but is so undersized as a shooting guard that he doesn’t abet the team on that side of the ball. If Garland were to be traded, perhaps Mitchell could be moved to the point guard spot.
In the frontcourt, meanwhile, Allen and Evan Mobley also represent a bit of a strange match. Neither can make triples, which comprises Cleveland’s floor spacing, and both seem better suited to play center. Mobley starts at the power forward spot when Allen is healthy.
This Cleveland club would probably benefit from a breakup of either its frontcourt or its backcourt this summer. Mitchell’s commitment at least suggests that he’s going to be safe this transaction cycle. Garland should be able to yield some major talent depth and perhaps draft equity if he is dealt. Will Altman take that plunge? It may be worth pursuing.
Uncommon Knowledge
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