The Cleveland Cavaliers face several major decisions this offseason, with the fate of LeBron James and James Harden hanging over the heads of fans.
One thing they don’t have to worry about, though, is Donovan Mitchell. The perennial All-Star talent is in Cleveland for the long haul, and he proved that this summer by signing a four-year, $273 million deal with the Cavs.
Mitchell is under contract through at least 2030, when he has a player option for $75.53 million.
It made sense that the Cavs wanted to get a deal done with their superstar player. He’s arguably the second-best talent the franchise has seen other than LeBron.
But did Cleveland really need to max Mitchell out? Will his contract prevent them from making other moves in the future?
Is the career 25-point-per-game scorer overpaid?
Donovan Mitchell ‘Overpaid’ per Anonymous GM
In a recent episode of the Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon, MacMahon shared comments from a general manager who doesn’t believe the Mitchell extension was good business for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We just saw how rough the market was for Jaylen Brown in large part because of how much salary he made…and look, the analytics are more friendly to Donovan… in terms of this kind of money, you’ve gotta be a generational talent,” MacMahon relayed.
“He essentially said when you get into the $70 million range, which is obviously where this is, there might only be a couple of players in the league that are worth that kind of money. So there is some major risk involved here.”
It’s reasonable to question whether or not the Cavs are in a good spot in the wake of the Mitchell extension.
After all, throughout his four-year run in Cleveland, the team has only made it to the Conference Finals once, and it ended in a 4-0 sweep at the hands of the eventual champion New York Knicks this past spring.
Can the Cavs build a championship contender with Mitchell as the crown jewel? So far, it seems like the answer is no.
But maybe with a few additions this offseason, like adding James on the veteran’s minimum, will be enough to put the team over the top.
Brian Windhorst Says Cavs Needed to Do This
While it’s fair for some to wonder if the decision to give Mitchell a supermax contract was a good choice for the Cleveland Cavaliers, you can’t deny he’s one of the top players in the league right now.
He may struggle defensively, but offensively, Mitchell is the definition of an engine and consistently shows he’s able to, at minimum, carry the Cavs to regular-season success on a yearly basis.
For that reason, Windhorst, the other host of the Hoop Collective podcast, said this extension is something Cleveland needed to do.
“I agree [there is] a level of risk because you’re entering into a contract with a guy where this contract’s going to be all in his 30s, and you worry about trapping yourself,” Windhorst responded.
“But I also think that him doing this now keeps him from – if he has another All-NBA year, what are they not going to sign him in a year? They would’ve been further committed to more money.”
It seems like, at least some NBA analysts believe the Cavs were being proactive when inking Mitchell to an extension,
We’ll see how things play out under the former Louisville star’s new contract.
Cavaliers Receive Harsh Reality Check on Donovan Mitchell’s New Contract