Donovan Mitchell needs the message to be clear. Talking with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, the Cleveland Cavaliers star mentioned, “I like it right here,” and added, “I don’t wish to go.”
Mitchell mentioned the extension chatter has adopted him since he arrived in Cleveland, however he doesn’t see any purpose for it to maintain defining his future. “I really feel like this [contract extension talk] has been a constant theme each single season I’ve been right here,” he mentioned, including, “I don’t actually understand how else to blatantly say it to folks for them to consider me.”
He additionally made it plain that Cleveland has grow to be greater than a basketball cease. “I see progress. I see a runway. I consider. I’ve made Cleveland residence exterior of simply basketball,” Mitchell mentioned. “The group is aware of and all people within the constructing is aware of and feels the way in which I really feel.”
Mitchell mentioned the hypothesis has by no means actually stopped, even after he signed his first extension. “I’ve been saying this since I first obtained to Cleveland,” he mentioned. “I used to be known as [out], ‘Oh, he’s mendacity.’ I used to be about to signal my extension three years in the past, ‘Oh, he’s mendacity.’ Signed it. They’re like, ‘Oh, [he’s] not signing the long run.’ No matter. There’s at all times going to be one thing, I suppose.”
The Cavaliers nonetheless had a season value speaking about. Cleveland went 52-30 within the common season, with Mitchell main the way in which at 27.9 factors, 5.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per recreation, then reached the Jap Convention finals earlier than being swept by the New York Knicks.
That ending nonetheless clearly stings. Mitchell mentioned, “Once I awakened this morning, there isn’t a simple manner. … It was identical to, ‘Rattling, it’s over with,’ ” and added, “Being swept is at all times powerful. It’s embarrassing, nasty.”
He didn’t soften the loss. “It was a really painful ending. To exit like that, you attempt to placed on a smile and attempt to transfer previous it. It’ll take just a little bit,” Mitchell mentioned. “The worst half about it’s simply the sweep. We had a possibility, proper? It was proper there.”
The Cavaliers’ disappointment was magnified by the ultimate rating in Recreation 4, a 130-93 loss that ended the collection. Mitchell mentioned, “That s—, I don’t actually understand how else to explain it,” earlier than including, “It don’t matter all of the success we’ve had. Yeah, it’s nice. However while you lose like that, it’s powerful.”
Mitchell additionally pushed again on the concept Cleveland’s run ought to be separated from the gamers round him. “We don’t get to the convention finals with out James Harden,” he mentioned, whereas noting the surface criticism that always comes with success. “They’re going to hate [Evan Mobley], they hate [head coach] Kenny [Atkinson]. They’re going to hate all people, proper?”
