Donovan Mitchell Has Cavaliers Fans Thinking Big

It was considered the summer of Donovan Mitchell around the NBA. 

The rumors circulated the moment Mitchell expressed he was unhappy with the Utah Jazz. His name was linked to trades with several teams, including the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. The Knicks were the favorite because they had the most draft picks to offer and Mitchell is a New York native. 

And then suddenly an unexpected team entered play. The Cleveland Cavaliers arrived late and captured the prize by packaging a deal that sent forward Lauri Markkanen, rookie Ochai Agbaji, guard Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps in exchange for Mitchell. 

It was easily the biggest trade of the offseason. 

“The acquisition of Donovan Mitchell presented us with an incredible opportunity to bring one of the NBA’s most dynamic young All-Stars to Cleveland,” Cavs President of Basketball Operation Koby Altman said in a statement. “Already a special and proven talent at just 25-years-old, Donovan brings a competitive mentality that organically fits with the core group of this team."

The Cavs now have a core of four players who are budding stars. Mitchell, a three-time NBA All-Star, unites with Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. The Cavs, who won 44 games last season, were once considered a rebuilding project. 

Now, they are expected to contend. After opening at +12000, they moved all the way up to +3500 to win the championship since the Mitchell trade. The Cavs have lost in the play-in tournament the past two seasons. 

Cleveland has not been this excited about a team since LeBron James returned in the summer of 2014. James led the Cavs to a championship in his second season back and the expectations are similar after the Mitchell signing. 

The Cavs released two hype videos when announcing their newest star on the organization's Facebook page. The first one was titled, "All Eyes on the Land." The second one: "Welcome to Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell."

"We are excited to see the impact that someone of Donovan’s caliber can bring to the Cavaliers with his ability to score the basketball, but also make plays for his teammates," Altman said. "We welcome Donovan and his entire family to Northeast Ohio."

The Cavs have one of the youngest, most talented cores in the league. Mitchell is just 26 while Allen (24), Garland (22) and Mobley (21) are babies. Allen and Garland were both All-Stars last season. Mobley, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, was a first-team All-Rookie selection after averaging 15 points and 8.3 rebounds a year ago.  

Some have considered Mobley the most gifted of the bunch, meaning Mitchell could play a complementary role after carrying the load in Utah for so many years. Not many teams in the league are fortunate enough to call Mitchell their No. 2 but that just shows the amount of talent on the Cavs' roster. 

ESPN NBA analyst Brian Windhorst recently said this could be a possibility. 

"This is obviously a vote of confidence as Donovan Mitchell as a difference-maker," Windhorst said on ESPN's NBA Today. "But also is a belief that Evan Mobley, who is just 21 years old, who is just about to start his second season, has the type of ceiling that adding Donovan Mitchell to Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen is the making of a championship team."  

The glaring question is how long it will take the Cavs to put it all together. They certainly aren't built like the 2010 Miami Heat that paired LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. That team, led by three of the league's top 10 players, made the Finals its first year together and won two championships in four straight appearances. 

Former NBA player Vince Carter said it's a matter of developing chemistry between a group of young players who can all score. That will be the biggest issue over the course of the season. 

"When you get a lot of talent and guys who can put the ball in the basket, there comes sacrifice," Carter said, speaking on his VC Show podcast. "That's my question with that: Will these guys sacrifice? It's going to sound great right now in the honeymoon stage ... Will everybody buy in and understand their role? They have a lot of scorers ... I'm just curious to see if they can buy in and work together. If they do, playing like they did in the postseason, not even the postseason but near the end of the season. The way they played, they're going to make some noise. I don't know if they're going to go deep [in the postseason] but they're going to make some noise."  

The Cavs have some stiff competition in the Eastern Conference. The Heat, last year's No. 1 seed, returns basically the entire team. While forward Jimmy Butler is a year older, guard Tyler Herro and center Bam Adebayo are rising stars. A year after losing to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics are hungrier than ever and the signing of guard Malcolm Brogdon adds to an already talented roster that includes Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. 

The Philadelphia 76ers had a strong offseason by signing P.J. Tucker and Montrezl Harrell, a pair of complementary players who will help Joel Embiid and James Harden. Lastly, the Milwaukee Bucks, the 2021 champions, welcome back a healthy Khris Middleton after he missed most of last postseason because of a knee injury. His absence led to a second-round exit against the Celtics, but Middleton and superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo are always a threat at the title. 

If anything, the Cavs have made the race in the East even more interesting. It will be exciting to see how their Big Four competes against the more established teams. Contenders? I'm not so sure yet. 

It mostly depends on how quickly they can mesh and if they can check their egos at the start of training camp later this month. 

But they will be fun to watch this season.