Donovan Mitchell Trade Rumors: Adrian Wojnarowski reports Cavs GM Koby Altman's stance on moving All-Star
Donovan Mitchell is reportedly being eyed by a few teams who are looking to contend for the NBA championship. A few rival executives are rumored to be hoping the Cleveland Cavaliers will make him available for the right price. The four-time All-Star is under contract until next season before he is expected to exercise a player option heading into the 2025-26 season.
“Spida” led the Cavaliers to the playoffs last season, the first for the team since 1998 when LeBron James was the team’s superstar. Cleveland’s postseason, however, was cut short by an early upset at the hands of the New York Knicks. Unless improvements can be made, the Cavs are looking at another potential first-round elimination.
When Donovan Mitchell wanted his way out of Utah, it was believed that the shooting guard became tired of early playoff exits. It seems like he is back in that situation albeit in a different uniform.
Adrian Wojnarowski had this to report about how Cleveland Cavaliers GM Koby Altman is looking at rising trade interest on Mitchell:
“In the conversations I’ve had, ‘Lose my number on Donovan Mitchell.’”
The Cleveland Cavaliers may be confident that they can lock in Mitchell to a long-term contract. Otherwise, they’d have to consider a potential trade for the right price.
“Spida” will earn $33 million this season and will get $35 million the following year. Everybody is expecting that he will exercise his player option for the 2025-26 season to look for a maximum long-term contract. Cleveland is most assuredly willing to re-sign Mitchell but may not be on the same page.
The New York Knicks were Donovan Mitchell’s first choice before the Cavaliers overwhelmed the Utah Jazz with an overwhelming trade package. If and when he opts out of his contract in the summer of 2025, he will be free to sign for any team. Altman’s stance on trade talks is perhaps based on the confidence that the team can re-sign one of the NBA’s elite scorers to a long-term deal.
Do the Cavaliers have enough around Donovan Mitchell to contend for a championship?
The Cleveland Cavaliers may have to retool the roster to compete for the championship with Donovan Mitchell as the superstar. They have a 23-15 record, the fourth-best in the Eastern Conference. Evan Mobley is still at least four weeks away from returning from knee surgery. Meanwhile, Darius Garland, who dealt with a fractured jaw, will be sidelined for at least another week.
Cleveland has done well without those two, but the Cavaliers are likely not going anywhere if they are not back in peak form. Even if they return on time, beating the elite teams in the East will be a tall task. They will be underdogs against the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks in a four-game series. The New York Knicks will be another tough team to contend with.
The Cavaliers could use another big man and shooter. Jarrett Allen will man the middle but the frontline is thin behind him. Mobley will likely be compromised after coming back from knee surgery.
A shooter who can punish some of the double teams on Donovan Mitchell will also benefit the team. Out of Cleveland’s 3-point shooters, Sam Merrill is the best with 42.5%, but he has a total of eight playoff games in his career.
Cleveland’s roster has a feel of what Mitchell’s Utah Jazz teams played like. The Cavaliers are quite good but they likely need more around “Spida” to compete for a title.