Donovan Mitchell is ready to get rolling with Cavs this season and beyond

Roughly two weeks ago, it was shocking news when the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired guard Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz. In the deal, Cleveland sent Collin Sexton (via sign-and-trade), Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps to Utah.

The deal was a surprising one, as the New York Knicks long appeared to be the frontrunner to land Mitchell, and the Washington Wizards were a club that was long linked to Mitchell. The Cavaliers were a team that was involved in Mitchell rumors, but not too long before the deal was ultimately done, Cleveland had reportedly bowed out of the Mitchell sweepstakes.

The Cavs and Jazz did reportedly rekindle talks in coming days following that, though, and as a result, Mitchell ended up on the Cavaliers, which is sort of still sinking in. Mitchell, a three-time All-Star, and elite combo guard, is now a Cav, either way, and is one of the core guys for Cleveland.

Along those lines, Mitchell’s introductory press conference with the Cavaliers was held on Wednesday afternoon, and he was greeted by fans of the Wine and Gold prior to that, where Mitchell was seen with a new white Cavs team hoodie, and he was donning a Cleveland Browns hat.

A big takeaway from the presser, also featuring Koby Altman and J.B. Bickerstaff, was that Mitchell is just thrilled to be with this ascending Cavaliers team, and this picture from the team prior to the presser further illustrates that, first off.

As for the presser itself, an initial tweet from earlier on that jumped out to me was how, as was rumored to have occurred, Mitchell did in fact jump for joy “running around the golf course celebrating” after finding out about the trade and how the Cavs returned the guys they did. I’d think Jarrett Allen was one of those in mind; this was via Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and Right Down Euclid.

There were a few other tweets that we’ll hit on in a bit here, but, it’s clear that Mitchell is ready to get going with the Cavaliers in coming years.

Mitchell is ready to get rolling with the Cavs this coming season and beyond.

It was evident from the jump, throughout the month so far even, that Mitchell seems to be bought into what the Cavaliers are building here.

He appears to be sold early on guys such as Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, and the direction this ascending team is heading; Caris LeVert was a guy of that ilk of note, too; that was via Dammarell. Also, Mitchell has been blown away by Garland’s shooting ability.

Another one of the key elements to the Mitchell intro presser was the Knicks rumors, and how it seemed to be a when, not if sort of thing as to him potentially being traded to New York.

That’d have been going home for Mitchell, who was fully on-board with that for obvious reasons, and as he stated in his media availability, he thought he was headed there. But it didn’t happen, and he’s pumped to be with the Cavs and a club on the rise. He stated how it’s ultimately about “winning,” essentially not where you’re located, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Additionally, in a follow-up with Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Mitchell basically emphasized how while he thought he was going to New York/back to the Connecticut area, and seemed to be a foregone conclusion before, how he’s now focused on building with these Cavaliers, and that he’s “very excited.”

As far as a couple of other notable things involving the initial Cavs Mitchell press conference, it was interesting how Mitchell was a huge LeBron James fan growing up, and how him now playing for the Cavs brings everything “full circle.”

That led to the New York dude being a Cavaliers fan, which makes this scenario pretty cool in its own way.

And lastly, just generally, it was awesome how Mitchell expressed how he “didn’t realize” how many Cleveland sports fans there are not just locally, or in America, but worldwide even, via Carly Mascitti of WEWS.

So, overall, while the Knicks-going home possibility, and seemingly certainty looked to be there before in the offseason, and not long ago for Mitchell, it was telling how excited he is to get rolling with the Cavs this coming season, and feasibly years to come.

He looks to be a guy that is going to fully embrace Cleveland in time, and is thrilled to be with this young ascending group of players, and seemingly to be reunited with his former Jazz teammate in Ricky Rubio. Mitchell, who is currently signed through the next three seasons and with a 2025-26 player option, was vocal about how this group could really do big things, and how Cleveland has a ton of talent on paper, but also how the group has to prove it with their play.

It’s now going to be up to the team to keep on the upward trajectory from last season, and hopefully Mitchell can be the difference-maker many believe he can be.