Is the Donovan Mitchell experiment over already for the Cleveland Cavaliers

Is the Donovan Mitchell era coming to a close for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

What could it mean? That’s what everyone was asking on Tuesday when Brian Windhorst got cryptic during an interview with ESPN Radio in Cleveland. He made allusions that something may be coming down the pipeline for the Cleveland Cavaliers fanbase and told everyone to keep an eye out on social media for a clue.

Obviously, everyone thought it meant Jarrett Allen. He’d be involved in a lot of rumors, mostly from teams who want him. So clearly, that was what Windhorst meant, right? Well, maybe not, because right around the story breaking two other things took shape; a rumor that Paul George may be shopped by the Los Angeles Clippers and Donovan Mitchell hanging out with just about the entire city of New York.

And the curious thing is, while the George rumor is fairly new, Mitchell has been hanging out all the time with members of the New York Knicks, including but not limited to, Allen Houston, a member of the Knicks front office and former Knicks player.

Now, since this caused a firestorm, Windhorst has returned to the airwaves more recently and explained that theCavs aren’t trading Mitchell or Darius Garland. But is this sincere? It very well may be a situation where Windhorst was told something he shouldn’t have said and is now walking it back to appease a source.

Could the Cleveland Cavaliers cut bait with Donovan Mitchell?

Honestly, yeah, this could happen. More importantly, Mitchell doesn’t seem to be a good fit. He’s a ball-dominant guard next to Garland. They both like to shoot threes, but unlike Garland, Mitchell is not a good three-point shooter.

The trade, as it stands now, was a bad idea. But only by a few percentage points. If Mitchell stays, the Cavs go to the NBA Finals, that would obviously change, but losing Collins Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and Ochai Agbaji (plus those picks), hurt the team considerably.

This is ironic, because the Cavs need a small forward, which Markkanen is, and a three-pointer shooter off the bench, aka Agbaji, and without Mitchell, Sexton could’ve filled in just as well as a scorer.

So the only thing that makes sense now, even if Mitchell is committed to staying in Cleveland, is to trade Mitchell and recoup what the team lost. Now, they’re not getting back what they gave up, sadly, but they could get back some pieces to help bolster the team.

Off the top of my head, a trade could include Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Evan Fournier, and the 2024 first-round picks of Washington and Detroit. The Cavs fans will want more back, the Knicks fans think it’s too much, but in all honesty, it’s quite fair.

And if you want to just say “Well, we’ll just sign him in two years”, remember something; a lot can change in two years. Namely, the Cavs whispering in his ears, telling him, “Man, they won’t give up two draft picks for you? They must not want you that badly”. Then you can drop a line about how the Knicks clearly don’t want to win with you, because “…they could have you, and they’re choosing not to.”

If Mitchell wants to go to New York that badly, and the Knicks know you’re willing to play mind games and maybe screw up their chance to land him, they may become far more willing to come to the table.

• Published on 06/28/2023 at 18:41 PM
• Last updated at 06/28/2023 at 18:41 PM