Mitchell delivered one of the best seasons in franchise history from someone not named LeBron James.
Donovan Mitchell was having his best season as a pro before injuring his knee at the end of February. The injury robbed him of some of his explosiveness that put him on the periphery of the MVP conversation around the All-Star break. How this affected his game can be seen simply in his numbers. Mitchell averaged 28 points and 6.2 assists while generating 1.21 points per shot attempt (86th percentile) from the beginning of the season through the end of February. Those numbers dropped to 18.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.07 points per possession (36th percentile) from March onward.
That same knee injury kept him out of the final two games of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run, but it didn’t prevent him from being arguably the best player on the court in every game he suited up. Mitchell answered lingering questions from his two previous disappointing postseasons by averaging 29.6 points and 4.7 assists while putting up 1.18 points per shot attempt (56th percentile).
Mitchell’s playoffs included incredible showings to finish the first-round series against the Orlando Magic, scoring 50 and 39 points in back-to-back close-out games. He followed that up by playing his best game in a Cavalier uniform in Game 2 versus the Boston Celtics. Mitchell did a fantastic job of setting up his teammates with five assists in the first half and then stole the game by pouring in 23 points in the second half to deliver Boston one of just three postseason losses.
Mitchell had a successful playoff run because he improved on flaws that the New York Knicks exposed in 2023. New York forced the ball out of Mitchell’s hands every chance they could by trapping him. Mitchell didn’t trust his teammates to make the right plays and he was far too late recognizing when the traps were coming. Orlando and Boston — to a lesser degree — tried similar strategies against Mitchell but weren’t able to have the same success due to his growth as a willing passer.
This season could be remembered as the one Mitchell embraced his true role as his team’s point guard. The term point guard often comes with a connotation of needing to be someone who methodically sets the table for others before partaking in the scoring themselves. However, that isn’t how the modern game works. The best scorers in the league do their most damage with the ball in their hands and are technically point guards even if they aren’t cut from the Jason Kidd, Derek Fisher, and Chris Paul mold. This includes guys like Luka Dončić, James Harden, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jalen Brunson who are varying degrees of the same archetype. All are the primary initiators of the offense with everything flowing through them.
Mitchell was thrust into this position with Darius Garland missing most of the middle of the season and thrived in his absence. Mitchell showed growth as a passer, but being in a situation where the floor was spaced out and he could make the simple reads made himself and the entire offense considerably more dangerous.
“I mean, he draws so much attention it’s ridiculous man,” Dean Wade said in December after Mitchell’s first game running the point. “All five defenders are looking at Donovan. Tonight you saw when two people were on him, he made the right pass every single time.”
This positional change also allowed Mitchell to see the game in a different light.
“It just allows you to think the game from a whole different perspective,” Mitchell said about playing the point guard in January. “It’s taught me a lot of things that I’ve seen on film that I’ve implemented into my game.”
This shift resulted in the highest assist percentage of his career (26.8%, 85th percentile) while coinciding with a low turnover percentage (10.6%, 64th percentile). This led to lineups with Mitchell at the point compiling a 7.9 net rating (87th percentile) and a 116.6 offensive rating (61st percentile). Those numbers were better than lineups where Garland ran the point and had a better net rating and a slightly lower offensive rating (116.9) than groups that had both Garland and Mitchell on the floor in the regular season.
This season created an uncomfortable conversation about the backcourt pairing. It’s easy to point to Garland as being the one who needs to fit in since Mitchell is the hands-down better player. That said, it’s still a two-way street. Mitchell knows how to be a two-guard and play off-ball, but that hasn’t always translated to on-court chemistry with him and Garland.
Also, the league is more wide-open than ever. Even so, the helio-centric style of play that works in the regular season from guys like Harden with the Houston Rockets hasn’t translated to playoff success. Mitchell also isn’t currently a perennial MVP candidate like that version of Harden was.
It’s easier to envision this team reaching their ceiling if Mitchell isn’t the only one dominating the ball whether that’s alongside Garland or someone else of his skill level. Mitchell played the two his entire time with the Utah Jazz but did so alongside lower-usage point guards who were comfortable ceding the floor to him.
It’s not that Garland doesn’t give him room to operate, but both haven’t had the oxygen they need to be their best selves. They also haven’t found ways to leverage the other’s skills to their advantage. This is why we’ve often seen their best games happen when the other is off the court. Figuring out how to maximize both guards will be the new head coach’s biggest challenge and is the area Mitchell needs to grow in the most.
Mitchell has the skills to be one of the best players in the league. Finding out how his talent works best around this team and vice versa will determine whether or not he or the Cavs can reach their ceiling.
