REPORT: Other NBA Teams Tracking Donovan Mitchell’s Morale
After Donovan Mitchell did not sign a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers last month, his future with the team has been in question.
This questioning has now reportedly reached the executive level of the NBA.
In a recent article, HoopsHype Senior Insider Michael Scotto writes that NBA executives from other teams are keeping watch on Mitchell’s morale with Cleveland.
Here’s what Scotto had to say.
“Rival NBA executives are monitoring Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell’s happiness in Cleveland. Mitchell is signed through next season before a $37 million player option for the 2025-26 season, which many around the league expect him to eventually decline.
Cleveland wants to sign Mitchell to a long-term contract down the line and is in no rush to move him after making offseason moves to improve the team around him and the team’s core, including the offseason additions of his former Jazz teammate Georges Niang and former Heat sharpshooter Max Strus.”
Last season, Mitchell’s first with the Cavaliers, was a career campaign for him. He averaged a career-best 28.3 points per game and garnered his first career All-NBA selection (Second Team).
Mitchell was also an NBA All-Star for the fourth consecutive season, and was named a starter for the first time in his career.
However, Cleveland was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs by the New York Knicks.
Nov 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and guard Darius Garland (10) celebrate in the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
This season, the 27-year-old is averaging 28.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, as the Cavaliers are 10-8 in their first 18 contests.
One would imagine that advancing past the first round of the NBA Playoffs this season would increase the chances of Mitchell signing a contract extension with Cleveland.
But with much of the 2023-24 campaign still ahead, any contract extension conversations will likely have to wait.
