When asked last week about trade rumors, Donovan Mitchell batted them down, stating his main goal is to guide the Cavaliers.
through the upcoming weeks without Darius Garland (fractured jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery). He has his sights set on the postseason with this team.
That hasn’t stopped the rumors, though; it’s no secret that Mitchell wants to play for a team in the New York area when he returns, and those teams are both in need of a star. Mitchell declined the Cavaliers’ offer of an extension last summer, making him a free agency in 2025.
The Cavaliers want to stick with their core four of Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, so they aren’t looking to move Mitchell just yet. Should a shift occur, it.
The Cavaliers, though, are not prepared to consider that exit strategy.
Cleveland officials have maintained a commitment to this core of four All-Star talents, according to league sources, even with all the incessant chatter among rival executives that Mitchell will inevitably bolt when he can reach the unrestricted market in 2025…
All that noise has naturally brought questions about Bickerstaff’s hold on his head-coaching post, particularly after a 4-6 start, with Cleveland’s playoff shortcomings against the Knicks still fresh in the rearview.
If change were to ever come within the Cavaliers, talent is rarely the first major domino to fall.
It’s far simpler, and far less existential, to swap out a play-caller than part with an MVP candidate like Mitchell, so goes this league’s conventional wisdom.
Although Mitchell—possibly an All-NBA player—is overstated by the MVP contender, this is standard NBA reasoning: coaches can be fired and elite players are too scarce. In the event that management determines a change is necessary, Adrian Griffin will replace Mike Budenholzer, or Nick Nurse will replace Doc Rivers. It virtually always starts with that, even though the coaching change doesn’t always work.
Despite their difficulties this season, the Cavaliers are still 15-12 and hold the sixth position in the East, avoiding the play-in round and only two games off of a top-four seed that would have allowed them to host a first-round playoff series—which is, in all likelihood, their best case scenario this year. Cleveland has not made any progress in
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