Luka Doncic has had a remarkable career that took off almost immediately; he was the rare second-year player to make First-Team All-NBA, and he translated his prodigious scoring talents to the postseason, including leading the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season.
While that wasn't enough to make his team hold onto him, it did lock him into elite company. Doncic has a career playoff scoring average of 30.9 points per game, which is the second-most all-time behind only His Airness, Michael Jordan. Just behind Doncic are Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, Jerry West and LeBron James, who at 28.44 points per game ranks sixth all-time in playoff scoring average.
What do all of those players have in common, other than being a walking bucket? They all made it to the NBA Finals.
Michael Jordan famously made it six times, winning a title in all six. Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers made it to the 2001 Finals, losing to Shaq and Kobe and the Lakers. Kevin Durant led the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder to the Finals in 2012, then went back three times with the Golden State Warriors, winning two titles.
Jerry West made it a whopping nine times with the Lakers, winning just the one time. And LeBron James has been to the NBA Finals 10 times, winning four titles with three different franchises, including a 2016 championship he won with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Why does this matter for the Cavaliers? It matters because the next player on the list, the most highly-ranked playoff scorer in NBA history not to make the NBA Finals, is Donovan Mitchell.
As pointed out by Kevin Pelton of ESPN, history suggests that Spida's time is coming.
Donovan Mitchell is a phenomenal playoff scorer
Donovan Mitchell has had some spectacular playoff performances, including scoring 50 or more points three different times. Only two players have ever done that more often than Mitchell: Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
And this season he has the team around him to propel him into hallowed company. The Cavaliers won 64 games, with the league's best offense and a Top-10 defense. Mitchell didn't have his best year, but part of that was allowing his teammates to shine. He is fully capable of exploding at any time, and on nights when he doesn't, he has wingmen ready to carry the team.
It won't be a cakewalk to get to the NBA Finals, not with the defending champion Boston Celtics in the way. They are deep, they are proven, and they have plenty of length to throw at Mitchell. If the two teams face off in the Eastern Conference Finals, it has all the makings of a titanic throwdown.
Mitchell has a chance at history. He can lead the Cavaliers to the Finals without LeBron James, and in the process pass him on the playoff scoring chart. He can help Cleveland reach heights it has never reached with LeBron. And he can emblazon his name on the league annals as an all-time playoff scorer.
The path is laid out before him; can history repeat itself and propel Mitchell and these Cavaliers to the promised land?