Mitchell’s will be staying in Cleveland with a $150 million contract worth up to three years.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had one goal this summer: Keep Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland. They accomplished that as Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Mitchell will be signing an extension worth $150.3 million to stay in Cleveland. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season and has a player option for 2027-28. This will allow Mitchell to sign a new contract once he reaches 10 years of service time which would allow him to sign a deal worth $380 million or more.
According to Wojnarowski, “A significant part of Mitchell’s belief in committing on a new deal comes with he and his representative’s confidence in the organization to keep building the Cavaliers into a championship contender and an alignment on a partnership of how they’ll play a part in doing it together, sources said.”
The Cavs traded for Mitchell in 2022 when he had three years left on his contract. At the time, there were signs that he wanted to play in a larger market after spending the first five years of his career with the Utah Jazz. The New York Knicks seemed like the logical option at the time, but the Cavs beat them to the punch by trading for him themselves. Since then, rumors have persisted that Mitchell could ask his way out of town or simply leave when his current deal expires. The latter won’t be happening.
Mitchell has said all of the right things in interviews about enjoying being a Cavalier, but actions speak louder than words. No action speaks louder than signing an extension that could keep him in town for at least the next four seasons.
Mitchell has had two of the best seasons of his career with the Cavaliers. He earned All-NBA second-team honors for the 2022-23 season for the first time and had a good case for being named to the first team. He likely would’ve made an All-NBA team this past season if he was able to stay healthy and reach the 65-game threshold necessary to be eligible for end-of-season awards.
The next step for Mitchell will be building upon his regular season success in the postseason. After a disappointing first playoff run in Cleveland, Mitchell was spectacular in 10 games this most recent postseason. This included 50 and 39-point performances in back-to-back potential close-out games against the Orlando Magic and 29 points in a Game 2 win over the Boston Celtics in the second round. A calf injury forced Mitchell to miss the last two games of the Cavs’ postseason run.
This contract extension also gives Mitchell a chance to become one of the greatest players in franchise history. He is one of five Cavaliers to be named to an All-NBA team and was only the third player in franchise history to be named to the first or second team joining Mark Price (twice) and LeBron James (ten times). Mitchell also earned Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors in January 2024 becoming the second Cavalier to do so other than James (26 times). He also holds the team’s record for most points scored in a game with 71.
Finding a new coach and extending Mitchell were the two most important things for Koby Altman and company to do this offseason. Both have been accomplished. Their next steps will be finding pieces that fit around Kenny Atkinson’s offensive philosophy that accent Mitchell’s skillset through trades and using their nearly $13 million mid-level exception in free agency.
We won’t know who won the Mitchell trade from 2022 for several more years. However, there were no situations where the Cavs could’ve won that deal if Mitchell didn’t sign this extension. The Cavs made a two-year bet that they could convince Mitchell to make this his long-term home. That bet cashed today.
