What’s going on with Donovan Mitchell exactly? | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

What’s going on with Donovan Mitchell exactly? | Cleveland Cavaliers podcast

On today’s show Donovan Mitchell just is not right right now we’ll explain why and what’s holding him back as the season winds down on today’s locked on Cavs are locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast welcome in to lockon Cavs I’m Chris Manning that’s 7 Emeral it’s April we’re

Almost at the end of the regular season and we’re going to talk about Donovan Mitchell who uh Evan he’s going through it right now is what I would say yeah I I think that is a fair assessment Mr Mitchell is certainly going through it um Mr Mitchell we should we bring back

Um calling like I’ll call you Mr damal I can’t call Jake Mr Stevens that just feels too formal for a man I’ve only seen black hoodies Jake marrier in my phone so Mr marrier is fine um no I was just being sarcastic if you want to be

Realistically call them Mr so and so because they’re not your friends first name is for formality sake that’s true all right so we’re going to into all things Don of Mitchell today what’s up with him his the contract extension comments from him and Cavs uh are we we still use the word

Owner owner Dan Gilbert all that some really discouraging numbers about his shooting at The Rim a lot to unpack with Mitchell who as we’re recording this Cavs are a little bit ways away from playing the Phoenix Suns we’ll get to the Tuesday Wednesday games on Thursday show late Thursday uh Donovan’s not

Playing in that game against sorry the Utah Jazz not Phoenix Suns but he is not playing in uh things are weird with him right now as he’s been dealing with this KNE issue before we dive into that I I think I speak for as well on this FR of

The program Martin Rickman today is his last day running dime on dime on upro at upro um dime a long-standing really cool basketball publication I was lucky enough to write there for a time um lots of great guys over there and Martin is was part of some layoffs over in that

Media Group and he’s amazing one of the nicest most genuine people in in often kind of weird industry I don’t know what’s next for him he doesn’t know next for him um I just just want to shout out my friend Martin Our Friend Martin for

Being a great guy uh we had him on to break them the da of a Mitchell trade we should have him back on again soon just one of the realest ones out there he did say he’s available for podcast requests but yeah but yeah know shout out to R

Martin um wonderful human being uh one of my biggest supports when it came to getting right down y off the ground constant source of knowledge and information and encouragement I I to don’t think I would be where I’m at without some of his early Guidance just

In terms of just like you know finding my voice as someone who runs a publication and has to put on the boss hat and make those tough decisions sometimes yes he’s the best all right Donovan Mitchell he’s not playing Tuesday uh I don’t think anyone is happy

In that locker room with how this team is playing right now and Evan he is not right right now so the question is where does this leave the Cleveland C I mean that’s kind of a broad question but like really tackle it at face value um it’s suboptimal because there’s less

Than 10 games in the regular season you don’t really have practice opportunities at this juncture on this current road trip because of the women’s final four uh the Cavs are on the road that’s the reason why but the the the women’s final four is the reason why they have two

Back Tob backs on this trip but you’d assume just like for a guy like Mitchell who has bicker staff is like needs those on court reps just to find stability normaly within Cleveland’s offensive flow at least just have a rhythm heading into the playoffs or just you know shake

Off the proverbial rust so you can use that limited time before the start of the play playoffs like practice-wise to kind of gear up and scheme up for an opponent but yeah his knee is just not cooperating with what everyone was hoping for and that’s just the unfortunate reality situation like I

Spoke with um we had Spencer on front of the program Spencer German about this when I was on the radio on Sunday on Easter Sunday and I said listen PRP procedures are some like the most intensive treatments he can get for like any type of injury NE notwithstanding

And there it’s still not a sure fired guarantee that he’s going to be healed 100% even after he goes through the round of injections and just the the pl platelet rich uh plasma just like cycled through his knee so it’s not foolproof but yeah it’s clear he’s not 100%

Physically and it is having an impact just with his play on the court and just I I understand the natural frustration with him just not kind of having it click like he’s only passed 20 points once in these seven games he’s back since the All-Star break and that was

Against the Mavericks and they needed all 31 of those points he scored so I I it’s all up in the air but it’s just really suboptimal timing because like the the Cavs just don’t really have much time left and neither does Mitchell just to kind of f figure out

How can we get you back to as close to 100% as possible where I think this ultimately ends up is just it’s a it’s a very like injuries are never good right injuries are never like a good thing it is never a good time for you to have Donovan Mitchell like Miss a

Bunch of time and not look great the biggest problem now is that the playoffs are like in well like the regular season ends in 12 days and we’re recording it’s 11 by the time the playoffs you’ll have six days or so after that before you actually

Play in the playoffs but you don’t have a lot of time here you have like two weeks and change before the games like matter and your season is in do die mode right Donovan I like no one I don’t even think Donovan Mitchell himself could

Tell you yeah I’m for sure going to feel great in two weeks if I take some time off or if I don’t play any back to backs or if I just play like a couple games here or there and even if you told me Evan that like that got his knee right

What does that mean for the rhythm of him what does that mean for the rhythm of the team when they’ve had all these injuries and then like Isaac aoro is out they’ve had a bunch of other injuries on top of this this team is not healthy has

Not been healthy for a while Mitchell’s the biggest part of that and he’s dealing with the most significant injury the team is dealing with I just I feel like this is for a season that had this really high peak and they overcame a ton of injury stuff and large due to

Mitchell it is now like it it is off the rails a little bit it is not so off the rails that it’s like a car crash or a train wreck already but it feels more on the table to end up there than I would have said

Like a month ago and that all stems from the fact that the best player on this team the setting force on this team just is not correct I somewhat agree with that I I I’m above the mentality that the yes the that Mitchell’s the Cav’s best player

They will go as far as he can carry them or in this case his knee can carry them but also it just doesn’t help that the rest of this team isn’t playing great basketball and I do think a lot of that does fall on Darius Garland just being

So below average and just mediocre at the position since he’s come back from the Chaw injury and you know if you look at the shot charts the dichotomy of their shots like there is a lot of similarities in terms of like how Mitchell and Garland are functioning with not 100% healthy bodies

But I’m kind of I’m not getting impatient I want to say but I’m waiting for Garland to kind of like have it click again where he is comfortable and kind of flowing within the offense like the the win over the Hornets was a good indication of that I think the game

Against the Sixers was a good indication of that where um I you just look at it like the Cavs were able to kind of play past Evan Mobley not scoring in the first half donov Mitchell shot not following like Garland was just more involved getting his teammates involved but like Garland

Has just been so up and down and inconsistent that the Cavs just have no ball handle or initiated or Creator excuse me that can really get the offense rolling and it just kind of negates the fact that like George yanga is shooting the ball very well Sam

Marell shooting the ball very well Evan Mo’s been playing very good basketball over these last handful of games Jared Allen has been very consistent just giving you double doubles in terms of points and rebounds but like the creation and the guard play has just been so overwhelmingly below average

Whether it’s because of injuries or anything else that like the Cavs are just in a really weird spot where their best player isn’t 100% And the team isn’t 100% either and it’s just like the perfect mix of for chaos I I guess I want to say

Yeah so I I kind even though you said you you emly agree I think we just ended up in the same place so what do you actually what do you disagree with I just don’t think it’s 100% on Mitchell I do think it’s Toof full like the team

Hasn’t been good either even if he hasn’t been out there I I don’t think my point is that it’s not 100% on Mitchell is that it stems from him it is not all on him because none of these things are on one guy but when your best player who

Is playing at an all NBA level and was maybe G to get some MVP votes suddenly just like doesn’t have a working knee none of like nothing like the other stuff that isn’t working then is like a much bigger deal like you could overcome Evan Moi being out you could overcome

Darus Garland having like kind of a crappy season because Donovan Mitchell was playing that well and then that goes away and it’s like the Cavs lost their safety blanket with Donovan Mitchell not 100% that’s yeah yeah that’s a absolutely great way to put it all right

After this going to hit you with some numbers on Donovan Mitchell um of how he’s played of late what it’s looked like all of the things that aren’t particularly working with him right now cuz AKA and if you’ve just been watching you know he has not played that well that’s coming up after

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Guaranteed fit is only available to us customers all right some numbers for Donovan Mitchell last four games raw shooting numbers from the field five of 16 four of 13 four of 133 and three of 12 it’s pretty bad since the All-Star break 16.9 points per game on 37.1% shooting while shooting

42.9% from three five assists 3.7 rebounds just at The Rim Donovan Mitchell at The Rim since the allstar break in seven games he’s shooting 33% at The Rim let’s repeat that 33% at The Rim since alster break for the year Donovan Mitchell 66% at The Rim

He is literally half as efficient at The Rim since the All-Star break obviously seven games but Evan that that to me says everything Mitchell just he can still make threes cuz like he can at least get the shots up and he’s just good but he can’t get to the rim and

When he gets there there’s nothing happening um and he’s he’s not even blowing by guys it looks like in the same way on top of that no he’s lacking the speed the burst the athleticism just the overall strength that we’ve kind of grown accustomed to it it’s very clear just from the eye

Test and also the the statistic numbers like it’s a Harmony of those just metrics and just um evaluations just really overlapping where like he is not 100% and it is very clear like he is trying to play through it he has said publicly like he’ll be fine he just

Needs to get he needs to play he needs to just kind of keep figuring out says he feels fine like yeah that’s great he feels fine but like maybe it’s the mental Hurt Road roadblocks excuse me or maybe it’s the just getting back into ingame shape and also just finding your

Rhythm and just motion again because like that is a pretty serious procedure Donovan went under so like he has to just kind of ramp himself back up to the floor but again like I I tried to touch on this a little bit more in the first segment but reiterate like no procedure

Is fullprof like PRP is kind of like I don’t want to say a last resort because the last resort is just shutting it down and having surgery but it is a very intensive procedure to deal with a lot of things going on your knee in this case for Donovan at least according to

Brian wior it was like tendonitis or just like his knee tightening up and just flaring up at inopportune times from the wear and tear of carrying the Cavs all season long um and probably just you know all of his teams up to this point his NBA

Career but it’s uh not just a fullprof recovery thing and I think it’s just very clear like yeah he is just not % physically and when we talked about um him not playing against Utah a little bit like it’s the right call ultimately yeah does it stink you’re missing those opportunities to

Get him those refs yeah but you’d rather have Donovan Mitchell feeling 100 more more closer to 100% physically heading into the postseason because out of all the guys on this Cav’s roster I just feel more comfortable saying like he can find a rhythm and flow if his body is

Feeling right a lot easier compared to other guys on this team just because he’s that dynamic as a scoring and offensive threat I I think it’s just to me all that is true I think the problem is just that I don’t know if anyone can project like what like what this can be

For for him at any point again this year I I just don’t think anyone can reasonably say with any level of Confidence from based on like what we know that he’s like just going to be fine or what this is going to look like and it’s just the team is just it it’s

Rudderless without the like you take away what Mitchell G gives you and just it’s also like frankly what Darius Garland doesn’t give you as far as penetrating and getting in the lane and making shots at The Rim all of that is I think adds to the issues here right

It’s like Donovan Mitchell when he’s not superpower Donovan Mitchell as you said it’s a safety blanket that is now taken away okay then he can’t score at The Rim the offense doesn’t function as much since the All-Star break Cleveland has the 22nd ranked offense in the league

Uh it is three points about three points worse per 100 possessions than League average it is lumped with teams like the Joel and beadless 76ers the Spurs who are bad and don’t have a point guard the Raptors who are bad the Jazz who are bad

The magic who are like a really good net rating team Sal break but it’s because of their defense and have a pretty anemic offense right like they’re not they’re performing like a really bad team have the record of a pretty bad team since Sal like a little under 500

So just like kind of like a blah team and that starts with Mitchell then it extrapolates and it’s like un like Evan unless he shows up game one of the playoffs and is like healed or like is 90% it’s just like I I don’t think you can fix this

Like it’s it’s unfortunate to like say to frame it this way but I think just based on what we’ve seen from Garland this year what we know everyone else kind of is and what Mitchell is and what he’s not right now I don’t think this can be fixed unless Mitchell is right

And that’s the scary part yeah and I think the 90% thing is interesting I think that yeah that that’ be ideal just considering there was so little time until the playoff that’s I mean best case scenario is 100 but like you know median like you know hey all

Right like the Cavs hopefully if they draw let’s say the Pacers uh in the first round like the worst defense in basketball you can really ease Donovan in and get his rust shaken off that way but I I think like 90 is like you know optimistic I would say realistically

You’re looking at 75 80 but like what percentage would you say he’s at at now I’d say he’s at 6570 and you’re hoping you can squeeze out like another five 10% by managing his minutes uh shutting him down for certain games and just you know getting him some on court rep so

He’s not completely out of rhythm when he does get back to the court fulltime I don’t think no I don’t think no burst can’t score the rim Donovan Mitchell is 65 I think it’s like 50% it feels like 50% of Donovan Mitchell that’s that’s fair but if it so

Then if it’s the Gap is 50% to 90% I don’t know how either side gets him 40% recovered or like the closes that 40% Gap in a realistic way without like completely jeopardizing something it scares me that he is he took time off the rest and I don’t know how much good

It actually did and we don’t yeah like we don’t know what happened behind the scenes either like he was cleared for Encore activity a while ago did he overdo it then or It’s Tricky just because also like practice and doing stuff with Assistance or solo shooting work is a completely

Completely different Beast compared to an actual live NBA game where like you’re going everyone else is going full boore and as you had said if you’re at 50 or I’ll say I’ll say I’ll lower my percentage to 60 65 um guys don’t care you’re at that percentage they’ll hit you at 100% force

And that 35% difference does hurt quite a bit and I I just don’t know like where things maybe didn’t work out quite the way the Cavs had hoped when he was like as you said shut down for such a long time rusting and trying to recover after this procedure maybe it

Was playing too much against the Bulls or something like that who knows he in the month of March played four games in the games that he played he played 20 28 minutes 26 minutes 32 minutes and 31 minutes that’s with some’s slate rounding but it it’s about

There that’s like a far cry from the 36 37 38 he’s playing on a normal night so the fact that he missed all those games didn’t play back Tob backs and took like had time off regardless of what happened behind the scenes like the data that the the fact

We have is that he didn’t play games and like clearly not like on a normal NBA season grind and then still didn’t look right scares like that that that that Spooks me that that frankly just Spooks me for what he’s can give you this year that really it just can’t it just I

Don’t know how it can’t and I don’t know how if you’re JB bicker staff if you’re Kobe Alman if you’re Donovan Mitchell like how that’s not in the back of your head as you’re processing this and again they know more than we do but I don’t know how that wouldn’t be like

Percolating the back of your head as you’re trying to figure out the rest of the season I yeah I don’t know it’s the truth serum comment you you you like to use comes to my mind like I in these instances like if you had truth serum

Like you could ideally say like hey how are you actually physically but you’re never going to get a straight answer CU I don’t think for a competitive purpose you don’t want to admit that obviously and also interviews will be like ah I shouldn’t have played but I want I owed

It to the T like that like he’ll say that and it’ll be like okay like that explains a lot in retrospect but we don’t know that right now yeah and it’s just it’s it’s a mess um I I think it’s also just the fact that things did not

Go as Mitchell or Cleveland’s medical staff or the staff at the Cleveland Clinic that administered The PRP procedur as well it hoped and I I don’t want to say this is the completely an suboptimal outcome like the most suboptimal is like oh it didn’t work at

All like yes I have knee surgy he’s done for the rest of the year but this is circling the drain of course where you’re hoping like okay he could come back and like play at not a 50 to 60 to 65% level we’re starting with a baseline

Of 70 75% and we can slowly close the gap by playing him limited minutes and maybe I don’t know maybe it’s an offensive thing too maybe the Cavs need to find ways to get him just cleaner shots just so he can find comfort and Reps on the perimeter as he maybe starts

To find the physical comfort of like attacking the basket and things like that who knows but it’s just it’s been just really messy and obviously there’s a lot of like medical reasons why we’ll never get a fully transparent answer but yeah like you said like at the end of

The season he could say like listen I want to I didn’t want to leave it all out on the line for my guys I couldn’t sit sideline or sit idly by much longer and like yeah you can respect that but like also like it’s just it it stinks like it’s

Just like you know for a season that has been full of injuries this is the worst one the Cavs have been dealt or have to have to De deal with rather absolutely all right last thing coming up after this so Donovan Mitchell and Dan Gilbert both talked about Mitchell’s extension

But did they actually did either of them actually say anything we didn’t already know we’re going to explain why they really just actually said a bunch of nothing after this today’s episode is brought to you by Fire TV Fire TV is your destination for sports from live games to Highlights

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Mitchell think says he thinks Mitchell likes it here likes the group all of that Donovan Mitchell then talks about it is asked about it as he you know rightly so is very non-committal about it Evan did any of this surprise you did any of this teach you anything you did

Know about Donovan Mitchell possibly signing an extension this summer so as an Asad or background info uh friend of the program and fear the swords and write down ukids Jackson flicker wanted to ask Donovan about these comments and I halfheartedly jokingly said like he’s going to give you not an answer he’s

Going to tell you the same thing he said all season long so to answer your question no I wasn’t surprised because it has been the same answer that he has given since media day back in September October God that’s so long ago I wasn’t married before that happened

Um but more or less doin’s like I’m not could to sign an extension with the deadline looming the only time I’ll begin to entertain it is when the summer begins and like you know the Cavs can re up the conversations and he was transparent on the fact that like

He wants to do best for him in his basketball future and sure Dan Gilbert made a pretty sound argument that you know if you’re not a regular follower of this team like makes sense but yeah this is just a whole lot of nothing like it’s just you know I wasn’t surprised at

Donovan’s response I wasn’t surprised with you know the owner Governor or whatever you want to call it of the Cleveland Cavaliers saying like this is a great situation for a free agent that we’re trying to keep um and now we just you know it’s people can say whatever

They want it just really matters down to the Brass tax like can are the cabs going to offer them as much money as they can yeah they should but does Donovan want to sign I don’t know and that’s entirely up to him and no one knows what Donovan Mitchell wants to do

Except Donovan Mitchell and he is not going to tell anyone what he wants to do because it is going to be an overwhelming distraction if he said like no man I want to dip like at this point in the season or any point in the season yeah Donovan Mitchell is a NBA

Superstar who has a lot of big money endorsements who is represented by one of the biggest agencies and one of the biggest agents Austin Brown um his agency CA in the world in professional basketball there is AB like he is a corporate entity to some degree so he’s

Going to give you corporate answers that’s what this was Dan Gilbert is like for the times that he can be C did and in the past who would like speak off the cuff in in in in a way he is a longtime businessman who is the head of like a

Very large mortgage lender um and a corporate entity and himself like you’re going to get comments that actually say nothing donov one frankly one of Mitch best speaking of made a podcast um talking about his rivalry with sons owner mates Sheba so uh you mean like the Oh you mean like

The pator thing that came out on on Tuesday is what you’re referring to yeah um because there’s like an interactive it’s such a weird rivalry so I love rich guy stuff it’s very funny to me personally um well big Bank Chris now is agrees with it just can’t no but no

Um Donovan Mitchell’s one of his best skills generally like if if I were like if you’re like the Cavs PR team or like you’re really happy with Donovan because he’s really good at saying a lot of words without actually saying anything yeah like it’s he’s honestly great at it

Like I say that like with respect and also that work for like well in this case social media engagement just because like what he has to say about it matters um sorry my Knuckles split dry skin um but more so the fact that video listeners you just got yourself a

Interesting site but audio let’s check us out on YouTube um yeah always seems to say like Donovan’s just a consumate pro I know it’s like a cliche but like he doesn’t say anything like flashy that’s going to like make headlines but he’ll say exactly what you need him just

Like for an answer like to a question but also like he fills in the cracks with like a lot of just like positive reinforcement and stuff like that like you know just again doesn’t create controversy for the sake of creating controversy like he he he totally understands how to play the

Game where wa so where where does this leave us if you’re the Cavs if you’re him and you’re us I think Evan this leaves us in a place where we actually don’t know um anything we actually know we know nothing let’s flip it um what do you think he does at this

Point like if you were just assessing like whether it’s like you don’t have to disclose conversations you’ve had you don’t have to disclose stuff maybe you’ve heard through the wire or whatever but just based on just like your general perception like you and I around this

Team a lot more than folks who listen to the show like no disrespect by saying that but like it is a worthy question of like what is he going to do and like I do think just considering like how hot of a mess things are right now it is fair to

Speculate on it at times just because the season could be over sooner rather than later and then the Donovan Mitchell question just comes streaming into the rearview mirror again I think one of two I think there’s two ways this goes okay I think he and his team surveys the

Market and sees that like there’s just maybe not a situation that is going to willingly just like go get him this summer for whatever reason and he says I’m going to take the the max you can give me and I’ll worry about this in a year and just get the

Money I think that that is option one the other one is that he just says F get me out of here I think those are the two I I think even if he signs an extension the summer fair or not in a year you will still if they if they still just don’t

Progress and it doesn’t feel like darus Scarlet moves in the right direction if Evan Mooby doesn’t move in the right direction like whatever it is if the trades they make this Sumer to reship the roster if they have to make a coaching change if those things don’t

Work in a year you will have you will be kind of in a similar spot but just with him on a longer contract than him just being the star guy who asked out on a big deal um if I had to guess as of right

Now I kind of think just based on like the way the trade Market’s going to look and my suspicion that the only team he really feels like a real say strongly for yeah like there’s only one other team and we don’t even need to say it you know what it is

Like the the one that I think he would like be like the homecoming for him to some degree obviously ah okay I I was thinking you’re talking about the Heat and I’m like he could mean the Nets too but you know okay yeah I just I’m going

To say something I’m going to say something just very blunt no one actually not that many people care about the Brooklyn Nets there’s a some there are people that really care but no one in New York City Car about the Nets yeah no one in New York City cares about the

Nets barlay Center is a wonderful arena for everything basketball 2 it’s a nice venue too um yeah it’s just there but more stressing like if the Nets pay Mitchell the money he wants Queens ain’t that far away he can ride out his season be the number one player and then go

Check the Mets right with Seas okay but no let me let me here’s the thing Donovan Mitchell I generally do believe wants to like win and be on good basketball teams and like accomplish things right there’s that’s why the cat that’s why I was like kind of T and cheek saying it

Like if he wanted to see like he doesn’t care and he’s like you know what pay me top dollar I could to live in New York be around my family and home year round I’m okay with like riding out like 35 to 41 wins a season for the rest of my

Career like you know some guys are driven like that but Mitchell’s not like that was just me kind of being like tug and cheek about it sure I just do not believe that like the Brooklyn Nets actually offer you like a better basketball situation even with like Mel

Like they just that is not a demonstrably better basketball situation or even a better one than the Cavs are offering you so just take the like I generally think the way this could work is he just takes the money and like you see the roster res shuffled around him

And you see where this is in like a year and then but is that what does that mean for him what does it mean is that actually like the right thing for the health of the Cavs like we could debate that in the summer but I think that’s a

Very realistic outcome is he just gets the the Max gets the whatever extension he wants and just so he gets the money in his pocket and he worries about his future in six months or something or a year and that’s not fun for anyone but I think it’s possible Evan what your

Answer to your own question uh yeah kicking down kicking the can down the road certainly feels like a realistic path I I do Wonder with like Dan Gilbert like so as in aside as Chris and I talked about this before the show like this was him talking about Detroit host

In the NFL draft and the fact that like Dan gilber does have a pretty substantial like investment in the city of Detroit especially having them after or helping them excuse me after the recession and you know was like the automobile industry crashed in uh Michigan so like that was the central

Focus and then the Mitchell quote was kind of just like a sidebar conversation that became the story in itself anyways you do Wonder like does Dan approach the front office and say like listen we need to do whatever we can to keep this guy make the moves that’ll

Make him happy cuz he was involved lot he is in Mitchell was involved last off season in like recruiting George theang and maxu and giving his input on guys that like he would like to play with this season so that that could be a possibility but I’m of the mentality

Where either he says like hey I’m going to decline I’m going to ride this out one more year and maybe they sign an extension right away he picks up his player option and the extension kicks it immediately after that or he’s just like I’m going to decline it in test free

Agency like I think that’s definitely a possibility I’m too School of thoughts too or I don’t think he signs like he signs for Max but I don’t think he signs for like the full Max in terms of years like he gets top dollar but he has a way to opt out

Earlier to one test out this situation a little bit longer because he’s only been two years and he wants to you know see what the Cavs can do maybe with their a gun to their head in terms of just like building a team around him exclusively

And he can kind of test the waters and feel that out a little bit more but he does have another out just to go back into free agency especially if you know this knee doesn’t be like a recurring issue for him and he’s able to just like

Regain his form and just be a top 15 top 10 top 20 depending how you feel about him player on a consistent basis I just don’t think free agency matters anymore I don’t either if a star wants out they one out like they will make us stink

About it but just based on how he acts it was pretty bad his last year in Utah and he never like explicitly said he wanted out but like then after he was traded knew like yeah I was getting traded but that was also Danny a evaluating this team and saying like

Okay The Vibes are that of a team that is reached this critical point we need to move on so who knows just based on like who Donovan Mitchell is he just doesn’t seem like a guy who like is going to let a trade demand hang over the rest of this team

Like publicly at least no but I I would I would just the last thing I’ll say is I just do think if he does sign something it’s going to be the most amount years the most amount of money I just like there’s no way that’s not how

This goes that’s just what happens now yeah we’ll see and also the KNE injury could play a part in it too like that could be like oh maybe I should sign for top dollar like immediately and then like if it doesn’t work out demand a trade later

But like even if his knee isn’t like as functional as it once was or like this becomes a recurring issue like to your point yeah he has maximum dollar guaranteed for however many years he’s eligible to sign I think it’s like a 4year extension with or five I can’t remember but I

Think it’s five but regardless it’s like generational wealth money yeah it’s generational wealth money and you know takes care of him from now when he is like in his late 20s uh to be specific he is looking at his age now he is 27 so like from 27 to

Like his early 30s like he could have generational wealth wrapped up and like that’s what matters most so yeah that could be a possibility as well like the knee thing does play a factor in it too to me yeah he’s about to 28 just go get

The most amount of money you can why not we’re going to end there I’m Chris Manning that’s s damal thanksg to Jake Stevens as always we’ll be back uh on Thursday another big picture Cavs topic we’re going to draft some rooll guys in the leadup to the playoffs and then

Thursday we’ll we’ll give you what we learned and what we didn’t learn uh from Cavs in Utah and Cavs in Phoenix until next time I’m Chris at 7 be well enjoy basketball

There’s a lot going on with Donovan Mitchell right now.
On a new episode of Locked on Cavs (Wednesday, April 3, 2024) hosts Chris Manning (@cwmwrites, The Just Basketball Show, SB Nation’s Fear the Sword, Forbes Sports) and Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan, Right Down Euclid) get into the latest on Donovan Mitchell, concern over his health heading into the playoffs, how he’s clearly not right and might not be this season and recent comments from him and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert about his extension.

Jake Stephens produced this episode. Check out his latest EP “If We Fall Asleep Too Early” on Spotify or wherever you listen to music.

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