It’s up to Donovan Mitchell to set the standard for this young Cavs group

At this juncture, there’s plenty of reason for Cleveland Cavaliers fans to be pumped for the upcoming season and for years to come.

Last season was one where the group turned a corner, as Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen made All-Star leaps, and the group had 44 wins. That was the most by a Cavs squad without LeBron James since 1998.

The Cavaliers narrowly missed out on the postseason because of two losses in the play-in tourney, but the arrow looked to be pointing up. Sure, the closing stretch of last season was unfortunate; despite that, it was something to build on, and Evan Mobley was even better than advertised coming into last season in his first year.

Now, while it take a haul to acquire him via trade with the Utah Jazz, I don’t blame Cleveland for trading for Donovan Mitchell early this month.

Following the trade for Mitchell, the Cavaliers look to be a true factor in the Eastern Conference, and I’m not going to ridicule Koby Altman, Mike Gansey and the front office for pulling the trigger on dealing for Mitchell.

Cleveland had two All-Stars in Garland and Allen last season, and with Mitchell in tow, that gives them three players that were All-Stars last year. Mobley himself looks to have the makings of an All-Star himself in the near future, too, and has sky-high two-way potential.

That said, the Cavaliers do need to go out and prove that they can be a legit contender by doing so on the floor. There’s going to be boatloads of hype surrounding this team this coming season and in the foreseeable future.

To that point, though, and regarding the expectations for this group, which is still a young one, it’s up to Mitchell to set the standard for this iteration of the Wine and Gold.

Going forward, it’s up to Mitchell to set the standard for this still young Cavs team.

Mitchell is a three-time All-Star and put up 25.9 points and 5.3 assists per contest with Utah last season. He made the postseason in all of his first five years in the NBA with the Jazz as well.

Now Mitchell has not reached the Western Conference Finals, and made it out of the first round twice, leading to a career postseason record of 17-22. One of the series’ was one in which Utah blew a 3-1 lead in the first round to the Denver Nuggets in the bubble.

However, Mitchell being seventh in league history in postseason scoring at 28.3 points per appearance thus far indicates that offensively, he’ll produce on that stage. He’s tacked on 4.7 assists per outing in those appearances, along with that.

Generally, what is apparent from my perspective is that for the young Cavs, in particular, and that includes Garland, Mobley and Allen, among a number of others, it’s up to Mitchell to initially take the primary leadership reigns, more so behind the scenes and from a mindset standpoint. This kind of hinted at that from Mitchell in his introductory Cavs presser, via Carly Mascitti of WEWS.

Mitchell, like Garland, benefited from Ricky Rubio’s leadership back when they were teammates on the Jazz, too, for what it’s worth.

On the floor, there will clearly be some of that element from Mitchell, obviously, but it’s more just about fostering the right habits, and in my opinion, Garland is the primary leader of this group, at least on-floor.

Now, the Cavaliers and Garland turned a corner, and there’s plenty to be excited about for the years ahead, also based on what the Cavaliers did last season, aside from more in the closing stretch; injuries didn’t help then.

But, for this team to make the next step, Mitchell’s postseason experiences with the Jazz should aid the Cavs in hopefully their continual rise, and for young players, and the other core three, Mitchell’s track record should theoretically help as a player to look up to.

Granted, defensively, Mitchell himself needs to be more solid, and he acknowledged that in his intro presser last week, and I won’t discount that Cleveland has some perimeter defensive questions involving lineups they’ll need to figure out. That can come in time, though, and players such as Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens can help.

Anyways, the gist is, while Mitchell is not Kevin Love, who was a part of the 2016 championship team with the Cavs, going forward, with Donovan as one of the key cogs for the team, and just entering his prime, he’ll set the standard for younger Cavaliers. And in maybe a bit different way than Rubio, he should be able to aid Garland as an emerging leader, too.

The 26-year-old Mitchell will help this ascending, but largely still young Cavs team get to new heights, and he’s right in stating that this team could be special, they just have to prove it. Garland and the other guys should benefit from Mitchell’s prior experiences, too, which will help in getting the group to another level, hopefully. Looking onward, they can build on that as a group together from there.