Donovan Mitchell is quietly posting the highest scoring average in a single season of his NBA career thus far. The path to that accomplishment may ultimately prove to be a problematic one once the postseason arrives for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Through 11 games, Mitchell is averaging a career-high 30.5 points per game. The Cavaliers guard is shooting an efficient 50.0 percent from the field. In the process, the majority of his shot diet is being consumed from behind the 3-point line.
Mitchell is averaging 20.2 field goal attempts per game. 10.3 of those are coming from beyond the arc, with the Cavaliers star connecting at a 38.9 percent clip. That is also a career high and it has led to him registering what is easily the highest true shooting percentage (65.0) of his time in the NBA.
There is no doubt that Cleveland should want Mitchell focusing on his scoring for them to properly mold into the contender they want to be. The deployment of their star player being a high volume 3-point shooter may raise some concern, though, regarding its sustainability.
Cavaliers' approach with Mitchell could backfire when it matters most
Defenses in the NBA Playoffs tend to tighten up. When they do, will the formula for Mitchell still be a successful one? That wasn't the case in last year's NBA Playoffs.
Mitchell was one of the top scorers from the 2025 postseason. The All-Star guard did that in large part on the back of 9.3 3-point attempts per game.
The problem was those shots dropping at only 33.3 percent. It attributed to the early exit from the NBA Playoffs that disappointed many in Cleveland.
Granted, it was not the driving force. Most members of the Cavaliers and their franchise would chalk that one up to injury. Still, when Cleveland needed to fall back on Mitchell's offense to keep them afloat, that heavy bombardment from behind the 3-point line did not work.
Getting a healthy balance of shots from all over would go a long way for the Cavaliers. No one on the team can create their own buckets as well as Mitchell can. Getting it from several different areas would make it much harder to slow down the halfcourt offense of Cleveland in the postseason.
The Cavaliers' playoff success does not solely fall on the shoulders of Mitchell. However, with him being such a big part of the formula, Kenny Atkinson and the coaching staff need to do everything in their power to put him in the best position for sustainable and valuable production.