Mitchell says he knew he was staying in January or February
Mitchell told his teammates during the season that he was going to remain in Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell’s looming contract extension is something the Cleveland Cavaliers have been monitoring since trading for him in September 2022. That concern was alleviated this summer when Mitchell signed an extension to keep him in town through the 2026-27 season with a player option for an additional year.
Mitchell potentially forcing his way out of Cleveland has been a constant source of rumors since the trade. Despite the outside speculation, Mitchell told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports that he knew he was remaining with the organization since the middle of last season:
I noticed the year I got traded to Cleveland was just that everybody is going to have their own opinions. Everybody’s going to have their own experts or sources. I figured out my own trade destinations online. You know what I’m saying?
Everybody’s going to have their own stuff. At the end of the day, I knew that I was coming back. You know what I mean? Shoot, January [or] February. You know what I mean? I knew off rip. I told my teammates that. We all knew.
Mitchell’s timeline for knowing he was staying in Cleveland coincided with the Cavs’ most impressive run of basketball. The Cavaliers went 23-5 from December 15 through the All-Star break. That was the best record in the league during that stretch. Him committing to the team during that time isn’t too surprising.
The Cavs weren’t able to recreate that magic after the All-Star break as they went 12-17 for the remainder of the regular season. Mitchell also dealt with a lingering leg injury that eventually caused him to miss the end of the second-round series against the Boston Celtics. Still, there was enough during that 28-game run to make him believe in the Cavs going forward.
“As far as the future goes, I’m here in Cleveland,” Mitchell told Yahoo Sports. “I’m excited and I’m happy. I signed this contract for a reason. I believe in what we got. I believe in the organization’s will to win and motivation to win as well as myself.”