Video: Cleveland Cavaliers' newly acquired guard Donovan Mitchell speaks confidently about his team while attending a Cleveland Browns football game
During a recent Cleveland Browns football game, newly acquired Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell took part in a sideline interview with reporter Taylor Rooks.
During the brief interview, Mitchell was asked to tell Cavaliers fans what type of basketball player their team was going to get this season. Mitchell said:
"Honestly, a guy who just puts in the work nonstop. There’s gonna be ups and downs, but continue to put the work."
Mitchell also raved about his new Cavaliers teammates and touched on the team’s goals for the upcoming season. He continued:
“Not just myself. We got Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, K-Love, Jarrett Allen and the list goes on. We got a team that's ready to compete. Young and hungry. We got a taste of the playoffs last year, but you know, we are looking at progressing and getting better each year.”
"Honestly, a guy who just puts in the work nonstop... We got a team that's ready to compete."
@spidadmitchell to Cavs fans on what to expect from him this season
(via @TaylorRooks)
https://t.co/jTKIstpev5
There’s no doubt that the Cavaliers have the required pieces to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018. They missed out on the playoffs last season after losing in the play-in tournament. However, they are still a young team which is improving quickly. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen became All-Stars last season.
Forward Evan Mobley was also the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year and has impressed as a versatile rim-protecting big man. So adding a 3x All-Star and a proven scorer like Donovan Mitchell is a big boost for Cleveland, and the team will be looking to bounceback in the East.
Expectations for Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland
All eyes are going to be on Donovan Mitchell to lead the Cavaliers back to the playoffs. However, just making the playoffs won’t be enough for the Cavaliers, who gave up quite the haul of draft picks to acquire Mitchell. It also won’t be enough for many who are skeptical with Mitchell being the number one option on offense.
During Mitchell’s five seasons with the Jazz, Utah finished as a top five seed four times. However, the Jazz were still unable to make it past the second round in any of those seasons.
It’s unfair to blame Mitchell for this, who has a career playoff scoring average of 28.3 points per game in 39 games. But regardless, he still wasn’t able to get the job done even while playing alongside 3x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Mitchell will be hoping he can prove his doubters wrong and show that he can be the main guy on a championship contending team in Cleveland.