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Donovan Mitchell didn’t expect to be this happy.
When the Utah Jazz decided to trade him in the summer of 2022, he had hoped he’d land in his hometown of New York. So, when he was sent to Cleveland, he had no idea he’d feel the way he does now.
“It’s been one of the best seasons of my life,” Mitchell told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview. “I’m glad I’m here. Obviously, it’s no secret: Did I want to go home? I mean, yeah, sure. But coming here, seeing the group we had, understanding what we could continue to build, it wasn’t long before I was like, man, this is special.”
Mitchell, who was named an All-Star for the sixth straight season in February, helped the Cavaliers stun the NBA by opening their season with a 15-0 record and finishing as the top seed in the Eastern conference, with the second-best record in the league at 64-18.
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Mitchell has brought both the Jazz and Cavaliers to the playoffs each of his eight seasons in the NBA, but he has never advanced past the second round.
He’s hoping that could change this year.
But in a surprising development, Mitchell now finds his Cavaliers in a 2-0 series hole against the Indiana Pacers in their second-round playoff series, with Game 3 in Indiana on Friday.
Mitchell poured out his heart in Game 2, finishing with a 48-point, nine-assist, five-rebound and four-steal performance in the Cavaliers’ 120-119 loss. The shorthanded Cavaliers – without Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (ankle), De’Andre Hunter (thumb) and Darius Garland (toe) – led by as much as 20 points, including seven points in the final 50 seconds, before Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton made a game-winning 3 with 1.1 seconds left.
It was crushing for Mitchell, who had put on a cape despite dealing with an ailing calf and cramps. But when asked how the Cavaliers can recover from this mental blow, he didn’t hesitate.
“You ain’t got no choice,” Mitchell said. “We could sit here and dwell on this, and be home in about four or five days. Or we could move on and take some things that we did really well and go from there. I have no doubt that everybody in that locker room is ready for Friday. It sucks, it stings, but we’ve got to go out there and take care of business. Otherwise, that’s it. But I believe in everybody in that locker room. We believe in each other.”
Mitchell is hopeful that the Cavaliers can turn things around.
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They’ve played for each other all season, with Mitchell leading by example by taking on a lesser role on the offensive end to enable Garland and Mobley to become the best versions of themselves. The Cavaliers went on to finish with the top-rated offense (121) in the league this season.
For Mitchell, sacrificing for his team was a no-brainer.
In Utah, not only did he experience a seemingly endless series of disappointments on the court, but he dealt with racism off of it. In Cleveland, he finally feels as though he belongs.
“The city of Cleveland has really won me over,” Mitchell told FOX Sports. “I really enjoy being there. It feels like home. That’s my biggest thing. Basketball is going to be basketball. But you spend most of your time there and I feel like it’s home. It feels safe. I feel like I’m at peace. And that’s truly one of the biggest things for me.”
This season, Mitchell averaged his fewest shots since his rookie campaign (18.6) and had a career-low in minutes (31.4), a selfless act for a player who’s capable of scoring 71 points in a game, as he did for the Cavaliers in 2023.
Yet, despite finishing with less gaudy stats than usual this season (24 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5 assists a game), his name was exalted. He’s considered a strong contender to be named to the All-NBA first team for the first time in his career, as well as possibly finishing in the top-five in MVP voting.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers soared, smashing expectations and gaining respect as true championship contenders.
The city hasn’t had this much hope since LeBron James’ two stints with the Cavaliers, which included reaching the Finals four straight seasons (2015-2018), and leading them to their first championship in 2016, before leaving in free agency in the summer of 2018.
The Cavaliers went on to miss the postseason four seasons in a row from 2019-2022 before Mitchell arrived. In 2023, Mitchell carried them to the first round of the playoffs. Last season, he brought them to the second round, where they lost to the eventual-champion Boston Celtics.
Mitchell is well-aware that he has breathed new life into a sports-obsessed city that wants to experience greatness again.
In fact, he wants to redefine the Cavaliers’ legacy from being a franchise that’s completely dependent on James to determine its pinnacles and nadirs, to being a team that can reach the top with a new set of stars.
“We don’t talk about necessarily it being the first time since LeBron has left,” Mitchell told FOX Sports of the Cavaliers being contenders. “I think it’s more so what we can do as a group and be special. I think it’s something we definitely want to do for our own right. LeBron has done incredible things for the franchise. Now it’s time for us to try to continue to bring another championship to the city.”
For Mitchell, that’s going to be an uphill battle.
The Cavaliers are ravished by injuries, with two All-Stars missing Game 2. Haliburton has transformed from being labeled the most overrated player in the NBA in a poll by his peers, to becoming the most clutch player this postseason. Mitchell has given everything he has this series, averaging 40.5 points while being a dogged defender, but it hasn’t been enough.
“I don’t know what more he could do,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.
But Mitchell is just gritting his teeth harder.
He knows what the Cavaliers are capable of accomplishing. They had their most wins in 15 years this season. They one-upped their remarkable 15-0 start with a 16-game win-streak that extended through mid-March.
This team has something special.
It’s why Mitchell, who didn’t want to land in Cleveland three years ago, agreed to a three-year, $150.3 million contract extension with the team last July.
In fact, Mitchell made that decision six months earlier, while playing a regular-season game in Paris as part of the NBA’s Global Games initiative against the Brooklyn Nets, which, ironically, were one of the teams he had initially hoped to join.
At that time, Mitchell realized he had bonded with his teammates. He had fallen in love with Cleveland. And amid rumors he would leave, he made up his mind that he was going to stay.
“When we were in Paris, it just felt different,” Mitchell told FOX Sports. “You had that feeling that this is where you want to be. I felt that early on, too. But once we did the Paris trip, I knew I was coming back, for sure.”
Now, Mitchell is pouring himself into resuscitating the Cavaliers’ season.
In Cleveland, he not only found a great team, but he found a home.
And while his path to winning his first championship just became more serpentine, he’s up for the challenge.
“That’s what you play for,” Mitchell told FOX Sports. “You continue to run into a wall, and, how do you figure it out? It didn’t happen in Utah. And the goal is to get it done here.”
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
Donovan Mitchell
Cleveland Cavaliers
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