The Cleveland Cavaliers gave Donovan Mitchell a huge extension.
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz before the 2022-23 season.
Mitchell is averaging 26.7 points per game in the regular season and 27.3 points per game in the playoffs in a Cleveland uniform.
A seven-time All-Star, Mitchell led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. It was the first time Cleveland made the conference finals since 1992 without LeBron James.
The New York Knicks swept Mitchell and the Cavaliers in the conference finals, but Cleveland's front office remained loyal to Mitchell by giving him the huge extension.
Mitchell signed a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension this offseason. He spoke about that huge deal on Monday at Cavaliers media day.
“I mean, I think for myself, it’s more so of a commitment to this group, to the city and understanding, yeah, I could have waited and made it about myself and whatnot, but I’ve been blessed to make a lot of money in this league and do what I’ve been able to do," Mitchell said. "So, for me, how can we as a team go out there and find a way to make moves? Pretty much team first. Y’all know how I am and what I’m about. That’s pretty much my mindset behind it. “
One of the top scorers in NBA history, Mitchell enters this season with career averages of 25.1 points per game in the regular season and 27.8 points per game in the playoffs with the Jazz and Cavaliers.
Cleveland will start James Harden, Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen this season. That's a really talented starting five on paper.
The Cavaliers begin this season against LeBron and the 76ers in Philadelphia. That will be an electric atmosphere.
It would have been fun to see LeBron come home to play with Mitchell, but King James signed a two-year, $8 million deal to play with Maxey, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.
The 76ers also signed former Cavaliers wing Dean Wade.
LeBron is the best player in Cleveland history. He's also arguably the top player of all time.
LeBron is first in NBA history in points, field goals, games and minutes. He’s the only player to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three teams, the only player with 40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 50,000 points combining the regular season and playoffs.
LeBron holds career averages of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks per game with the Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He’s a four-time MVP, four-time champion, four-time Finals MVP, one-time scoring champion and one-time assists champion.
Mitchell will try to do what LeBron did in 2016. The 2015-16 Cavaliers won the 2016 championship against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
The Cavaliers will retire LeBron's No. 23 jersey one day. Cleveland fans may see 45 next to 23 one day, as president of basketball operations Koby Altman told reporters that the franchise hopes to retire Mitchell's No. 45 jersey.
Cleveland did a nice job of getting Watson after LeBron went to the 76ers. Watson signed a four-year, $88 million deal to join the Cavaliers via a sign-and-trade deal with the Denver Nuggets. The contract includes a player option and a trade kicker.
For the Nuggets last season, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.1% from beyond the arc and 73.0% from the free-throw line. He's one of the top two-way wings in the league.
Watson enters this season with career averages of 8.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Harden recruited him to the Cavaliers.
