The city of Cleveland has a new hero in their midst and they couldn’t be more ecstatic as they witness the rise of Donovan Mitchell quickly become an icon and raise the Cleveland Cavaliers to new heights.
Cavaliers fans have been salivating over this new regime and new Cavs era post-LeBron James because of Mitchell and what he brings to this team, including his leadership, work ethic, and of course, the talent.
An heir like Mitchell was the perfect fit for what this Cavaliers team needed in order to reach the next level, and the team is feeding off of him as well as the city. That included those 19,432 fans who were in attendance as he led the Cavaliers to a stunning victory over the Los Angeles Lakers 116-102 on Tuesday night, and wound up beating James in both matchups versus the Lakers this season.
Mitchell is happy here in Cleveland and that will be all it takes for the city to love him and embrace him as their own, because we all know what he was in Utah and how he turned that Jazz organization around alongside Rudy Gobert.
Now, following Cleveland’s loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, Mitchell’s hometown club, and the team that seemed to likely be where he’d be traded to over the offseason, Mitchell touched on how despite those prior rumors, he’s “happy as hell” to be where he’s at in Cleveland and with the Cavs, via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Mitchell also stated the following as part of a response in media availability, via Bontemps, seemingly in relation to how him being a Knick was going to happen, but now, he couldn’t be more pumped to be where he is in Cleveland.
"“At the end of the day, this decision was made and I don’t think I’ve been happier since I’ve been in the league.”"
Mitchell is genuinely happy, which should make Cavs fans even happier.
We can just imagine the capabilities this Cavaliers team will have once the postseason comes around in the new season or how they continue to mesh with one another.
Now that we’ve seen Mitchell for almost two months here in Cleveland, it’s still only a glimpse of what is to come once this team is fully healthy, and that’s something to look forward to. And pertaining to Mitchell himself, he definitely brings that excitement and energy night in and night out for the Cavaliers.
One could see that in Mitchell’s amazing performance on Tuesday, when he had a season-high 43 points, to go with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. On the season, Mitchell has had 29.0 points, 4.9 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, and has shot 42.4 percent from three.
There is still room for growth on the team, a tweak here and there could help, and Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and the group does need to continually gel, in order for them to be actual championship contenders.
But, I would personally say there is more upside than downside and this team feels like a family and that’s something that I think Mitchell is most happy about here and Cleveland is right there with him.