Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell Reveals Bold Championship Claim

Donovan Mitchell has very high hopes for the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming season.

Apr 22, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts in the second quarter against the Orlando Magic during game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not considered NBA championship contenders by most heading into the 2024-25 season, but don't tell that to Donovan Mitchell.

During an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Mitchell revealed a rather bold claim about his team with the regular season quickly approaching.

"We're championship contenders when we're healthy," Mitchell said. "I feel like last year we grew in a lot of ways. We played a lot of different ways."

The Cavaliers were certainly ravaged by the injury bug last season, as Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley all played under 60 games apiece.

"Now during that stretch, we went on, obviously D.G. [Darius Garland] and Evan were hurt. But we found something that really can help bring us to the next level. So now the trick is how do we continue to implement that style of play over 82 [regular-season games] and then the final 16 [playoff] wins."

Cleveland won 48 games and finished with the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference last year. The Cavs then defeated the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs before getting bounced by the Boston Celtics in Round 2.

The Cavaliers didn't make any major additions this offseason in spite of having some clear roster needs. Meanwhile, other Eastern Conference squads made notable moves for improvement.

As a result, Cleveland has become a relative afterthought in the minds of many when discussing who can truly challenge the Celtics in the East.

But perhaps Mitchell and Co. will surprise some people this year.