Cavs News: Mitchell spotlight, Love buyout, NBA All-Star Saturday Night

At the All-Star break, there’s plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wine and Gold have won the eight of their last 10, and prior to a near-comeback against the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland had won seven straight games.

The currently fourth-seeded Cavs are getting healthier, and look to be a club gaining confidence for the playoff push. Cleveland is now 38-23 on the season, and though they are unproven in a playoff setting, the Cavs are a talented group, and meaningful veterans should make a difference alongside the core as well.

But for now, it’s nice for this club, like others poised to make a run, to be having an extended break via All-Star Weekend. The festivities have been underway in Salt Lake City the last two nights, and on Sunday night, the game itself will commence.

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The Cavs will only have one All-Star this go-round, but he’s definitely one that’s going to have his share of the spotlight. Donovan Mitchell will be an All-Star starter for the first time, in what’s been his first season with the Cavaliers.

Mitchell made three straight All-Star appearances in the past three seasons with the Utah Jazz, and this time, he’ll be starting in the contest for the first time, in his former homecourt in Salt Lake City. Even with the fan element in that regard, Mitchell is more than deserving of that designation, given him having a career season thus far for the Cavaliers.

With the league trying out a new format with players being picked shortly before the game either for Team LeBron or Team Giannis, it’s unclear as to which squad Mitchell will play for in the outing yet. Either way, he’ll make his mark out there for a bit at least.

Kevin Love and the Cavaliers were expected to reach a buyout agreement, as of earlier in the week, and on Saturday afternoon, the two sides finalized that, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Love had a storied tenure with the Cavaliers, that spanned nearly nine seasons, and he was the last remaining player from the 2016 title squad, and Love should get his flowers. There were bumps in the road involving Love’s tenure with the Wine and Gold, sure, and he had his share of injury woes, both in recent seasons, and even during LeBron James’ second Cavs stint.

Love was recently out of the Cavaliers’ rotation, regarding this current team, and it did still seem as if he could stick around if needed, but that’s not what occurred. A thumb injury didn’t help Love’s season, which has been underwhelming as opposed to last year, as an aside.

All things considered, though, Love and the Cavaliers had a great run together, and with what he meant for the team, and in the past two seasons as a budding leader, one would have to think his No. 0 jersey should eventually be retired by Cleveland. In the mean time, the Miami Heat are reportedly the “frontrunner” for the 34-year-old forward, but per Wojnarowski, Love plans to meet with the Philadelphia 76ers before signing with a potential new team, such as Miami.

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During All-Star Saturday Night, there were a few notable performers that stood out, with those having been Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton in the Three-Point Contest, and Mac McClung in the Dunk Contest. The hometown Jazz would win the Skills Challenge, and before the events tipped off, Grambling State defeated Southern in overtime in the league’s inaugural HBCU classic during All-Star Weekend.

Lillard would take home the Three-Point Contest in front of plenty of family and friends in Utah with 26 points in each round, and Haliburton would tie a first round record with 31 points.

Following the win, Dame, who went to Weber State, had this to say about the experience.

As for the 6’2” McClung, he had a few very impressive dunks, and this one to essentially put the W on ice got everybody going.

McClung, who is on a two-way deal with the Sixers and mostly plays with the Delaware Blue Coats, Philly’s G-League affiliate, showcased his athleticism on the big stage.

Next Up: To begin post-All-Star break play, the Cavaliers will look to split their games this season with the Denver Nuggets, who blew them out last month in Denver. But this next matchup, the Cavs will be at home.