Donovan Mitchell shot down any talk of a trade last week, saying his focus is on leading the Cavaliers through the next few weeks without Darius Garland (fractured jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery). His focus was on the playoffs with this team.
That hasn’t stopped the speculation — it’s no secret Mitchell has interest in going home to play for one of the New York area teams and both are looking for a star. Mitchell can be a free agent in 2025 and turned down an extension from the Cavaliers last summer.
However, the Cavaliers are not looking to trade Mitchell right now — they want to make it work with their core four (Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Jarrett Allen). If a change is coming, it could be coach J.B. Bickerstaff who is on the move, reports Jake Fischer at Yahoo Sports.
The Cavaliers, though, are not prepared to consider that exit strategy. Cleveland officials have maintained a commitment to this core of four All-Star talents, according to league sources, even with all the incessant chatter among rival executives that Mitchell will inevitably bolt when he can reach the unrestricted market in 2025...
All that noise has naturally brought questions about Bickerstaff’s hold on his head-coaching post, particularly after a 4-6 start, with Cleveland’s playoff shortcomings against the Knicks still fresh in the rearview. If change were to ever come within the Cavaliers, talent is rarely the first major domino to fall. It’s far simpler, and far less existential, to swap out a play-caller than part with an MVP candidate like Mitchell, so goes this league’s conventional wisdom.
MVP candidate overstates Mitchell (maybe All-NBA player), but this is basic NBA logic: Elite players are too hard to come by, coaches can be replaced. If management feels like a change is needed then Mike Budenholzer is out and Adrian Griffin is in, or Doc Rivers is out and Nick Nurse is in. Sometimes the coaching change works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but that is almost always the first move.
For all the struggles this season, the Cavaliers are still 15-12 and sit as the No. 6 seed in the East, avoiding the play-in, and just two games out of a top-four seed and hosting a first-round playoff series (which, realistically, is the best case scenario for the Cavaliers this season). Cleveland has not taken a step forward off their 51-win, fourth-seed season last year, but they haven’t been terrible either.
The real Mitchell test comes this summer after the playoffs end. After July 1, the Cavaliers will offer Mitchell another extension. If he signs it, the Cavaliers continue down this path (with whoever is coaching them at the time). If he doesn’t, Cleveland has to think trade because they can’t let him walk in 2025 for nothing.
That’s next summer. There’s a long winter ahead first and Cleveland will not be trading Mitchell this season, it’s all just outside speculation.
