Donovan Mitchell reportedly extra motivated after LeBron James’ Cavs snub

Donovan Mitchell heard the reports. Now he apparently intends to respond.

NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson said Mitchell is especially motivated entering next season after LeBron James passed on a return to the Cavaliers and signed with the 76ers.

Robinson recently exchanged text messages with Mitchell and discussed their conversation on SiriusXM host David Shepard’s “The Good Shepard” YouTube show.

“I’ll save what he said to me,” Robinson said. “But I’ll just say that he is motivated to have a good season. And if unbothered was a person, it would definitely be Donovan Mitchell.”

That sounds about right.

Mitchell has been at the center of the conversation since James chose Philadelphia. Robinson previously reported that members of James’ camp were surprised Mitchell remained with the Cavs, believing James may have considered Cleveland more seriously had the organization kept Darius Garland and Evan Mobley while moving Mitchell.

There is a connection worth noting. Garland is represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, the same agent and agency that represent James. So it’s probably no coincidence Garland’s name keeps surfacing as the player James’ camp wanted to remain in Cleveland.

Instead, Garland was traded for James Harden, Mitchell remained the centerpiece and James went elsewhere. Now Mitchell gets the opportunity to answer the questions himself.

Robinson spent significant time around the Cavs last season and said Mitchell has fully embraced Cleveland. So has his fiancée, Coco Jones. More importantly, the city and organization have embraced Mitchell right back.

“Donovan Mitchell is the epitome of Cleveland,” Robinson said. “He’s not from there, and he spends a lot of time there.”

Robinson also offered a fitting description of Mitchell’s place within the franchise.

“Donovan Mitchell, from everything that I’ve seen and heard and just observed, is definitely the main course,” he said.

And that may be the most important part of all this.

LeBron had the opportunity to return. He chose another path. The Cavs still have Mitchell, and by all accounts, he is entering next season with something to prove.

That’s not necessarily bad news for Cleveland.

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