NBA Rumors: There remains real doubt that Donovan Mitchell will ever sign a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers went all-in on acquiring Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz last offseason, the hope was that they would get much more than just the three years remaining on his contract. One year into the experiment, that’s far from a guarantee. Even though the Cavs somewhat outperformed expectations a year ago, there are still many steps this franchise needs to make before they’re considered a championship contender in the Eastern Conference.
For as “successful” of a season that the Cavs had this past season, they didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs despite being the fourth seed in the East.
Suffice to say, the Cavs have a lot of work in not only emerging as a real contender in the East but in also selling Mitchell on the long-term potential of the team. Especially if he’s still not sold and ready to sign a long-term extension with the team at the moment.
According to one NBA reporter, Tim Bontemps of ESPN, there’s a belief that Mitchell will never sign an extension with the Cavs. In his opinion, he believes the Cavs should be open to trading Mitchell now in an attempt to get the most value out of him rather than waiting until next offseason when he’ll effectively be on an expiring contract.
Looking back at the Donovan Mitchell trade market
This may seem like making a story out of nothing, but there is some reasoning here. Looking back to when Mitchell was originally being shopped on the trade block, he had a list of preferred destinations.
That original list of preferred destinations were the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat. In the end, the Utah Jazz elected to trade him to a team not on his preferred list. The Cavs were willing to make a huge gamble and offered a godfather deal to Utah.
Cleveland got Mitchell but at a high price. Now it could end up biting them back.
It’s probably a little too early for the Cavs to begin panicking or even sweating. But I don’t think this is something that should be completely swept under the rug. Mitchell never wanted to be traded to Cleveland. He’ll say all the right things, that he’s happy and that he’s in a great place. But the fact that Mitchell can be a free agent in a couple of seasons is something that has to be in the back of Cleveland’s mind.
Mitchell is eligible for a contract extension this offseason. If he doesn’t sign one, this will or should be the first warning sign for the Cavs. The Mitchell situation in Cleveland shouldn’t warrant our full attention, but we should keep a close eye on the next 3-6 months on how this all begins to play out.