An injured Donovan Mitchell lingers in the hallway of the TD Garden for a long time after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ close Game 5 loss. Today we will discuss about Donovan Mitchell: Bobby Marks’ Cleveland Cavaliers,Contract,injured.
Donovan Mitchell: Bobby Marks’ Cleveland Cavaliers,Contract,injured
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season ended on Wednesday with a 113-98 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the second-round series, and now all eyes are on the future.
With this in mind, The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Joe Warden and Jason Lloyd reported that Darius Garland’s representative, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, would discuss a potential trade with the team’s front office if Donovan Mitchell is on a long-term deal. Decide to stay in Cleveland. Term contract extension.
The report also stated that “opponent executives believe the Cavs will have to seriously evaluate the fit of Mitchell and Garland and may ultimately have to choose one or the other.”
Mitchell is under contract for just one more season with a player option for the 2025–26 campaign.
There have been plenty of trade rumors regarding the five-time All-Star, and whatever Cleveland does this offseason will likely revolve around what happens with the go-to option.
On paper, Garland is a long-term option for the Cavaliers as he is signed through the 2027-28 season. If Mitchell is ultimately traded or decides to go elsewhere, the front office will be built around him and Evan Mobley, but the equation will change if he returns.
There’s something to be said about how Mitchell’s presence as a ball-dominant guard is impacting Garland’s overall development and ceiling. Perhaps he would be better off fitting him elsewhere where he can be the primary option and facilitator, especially since he is just 24 years old.
Yet they struggled without Mitchell in Wednesday’s defeat with four of their 17 players coming off the field. If the Cavaliers were going to have any chance of overcoming a disappointing win on the road without Mitchell, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, they needed better performances from their point guard.
But changes need to be made if Cleveland is going to compete with the Celtics and other top teams in the Eastern Conference next season and beyond.
Trading Mitchell would be somewhat of a reset.
Bobby Marks’ Cleveland Cavaliers
NBA teams rarely lose games on purpose, but it would be hard to find a better explanation for how the Cleveland Cavaliers handled their regular season finale against the Charlotte Hornets. A win could move the Cavaliers up to No. 2 in the Eastern Conference. The loss guaranteed the No. 4 seed. Cleveland basically sat its entire guard rotation due to injuries in that season’s finals against the moribund Hornets. The Cavaliers still managed to take a 13-point lead. So in the fourth quarter, they put their thumb on the scale.
Not only did he finish the game with five reserves, but those five reserves were all 6-foot-8 or taller. Second-round picks Emoni Bates and Isaiah Mobley played the entire fourth quarter. Undrafted free agent Pete Nance and journeyman center Damien Jones did the same. Veteran Tristan Thompson joined them for the stretch run in place of Max Strus, as the stakes were clearly too high for a single, proven perimeter player to be on the floor down the stretch. Charlotte predictably won the fourth quarter 32–14 and ended their season with a 120–110 victory. The Cavaliers got their wish: the No. 4 seed.
The logic behind this trickery appears to be that the bracket was manipulated to set up what looked on paper as easy first-round matchups. Although the bottom half of the bracket had not even been set on the last day of the season, the likely outcome was that the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic would have the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, while the older and star-heavy Miami Heat would have the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds. And the Philadelphia 76ers will duke it out for No. 7 in the play-in stage. The prospect of facing Jimmy Butler or Joel Embiid scared Cleveland so much that it willingly placed the better teams in its range in the bracket.
For most teams, winning home-court advantage in the second round will be enough of a motivator to play the final match. If that alone wasn’t enough, the 64-win Celtics may have a chance of avoiding the Eastern Conference Finals.
Contract
According to Spotrac, Mitchell has one more season remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $35.4 million, with a player option for $37 million during the 2025-26 season.
injured
Mitchell also missed Game 4, which the Cavaliers kept closer than anyone expected before falling short down the stretch. Additionally, the Cavaliers could be without big man Jarrett Allen and wing Caris LeVert, both of whom are questionable. Allen has not played since Game 4 of the first round due to a rib injury, while LeVert was added to the injury report with a left kneecap injury.
According to Tim Bontemps, none of the three were on the court when media were allowed into the Cavaliers shootaround Wednesday morning. If neither of them are able to go, the Cavaliers – already the worst offensive team left in the playoffs – will be in the postseason without three of their top five scorers, who averaged a combined 56.7 points per game.
While the Cavaliers would love to have Allen and LeVert for this game, their positions matter much less than Mitchell’s. The five-time All-Star is one of the game’s best individual scorers and has fueled the Cavs’ offense in their first 10 postseason games.
Donovan Mitchell: Bobby Marks’ Cleveland Cavaliers,Contract,injured
His 29.6 points per game ranked sixth among all players in the postseason and third among those still active. In addition to his individual scoring, the attention he drew from the Celtics’ defense opened up the floor for his teammates and was a big reason they pulled out an upset win in Game 2. Mitchell had 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Night.
While his hot 3-point shooting carried him in the first half of Game 4, the second half was a reminder of how difficult it can be for him to score without Mitchell on the floor. He went 19-of-45 from the field, including 4-of-23 from behind the arc in that second half, as the Celtics stormed back to a double-digit lead that proved too difficult to overcome.
In 11 playoff games, the Cavaliers have only reached 100 points four times. With Mitchell (and probably Allen and LeVert) out and the series shifting back to Boston, it’s going to be even tougher for the Cavs.
His 29.6 points per game ranked sixth among all players in the postseason and third among those still active. In addition to his individual scoring, the attention he drew from the Celtics’ defense opened up the floor for his teammates and was a big reason they pulled out an upset win in Game 2. Mitchell had 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Night.
While his hot 3-point shooting carried him in the first half of Game 4, the second half was a reminder of how difficult it can be for him to score without Mitchell on the floor. He went 19-of-45 from the field, including 4-of-23 from behind the arc in that second half, as the Celtics stormed back to a double-digit lead that proved too difficult to overcome.
In 11 playoff games, the Cavaliers have only reached 100 points four times. With Mitchell (and perhaps Allen and LeVert) out and the series shifting back to Boston, it will be even more difficult for the Cavaliers to match the Celtics’ offense in Game 5.
