Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell on future: ‘My job is to focus on this’

The Cavaliers are supposed to be in a pickle, given that star point guard Darius Garland and starting forward Evan Mobley will each miss at least a couple months.

So naturally, that will lead to questions about All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, and more specifically, Mitchell’s future in Cleveland. Those rumors had already been making the rounds since at least the summer — with the New York Knicks mentioned as the team for which Mitchell hopes to eventually play.

So throw in the fact Garland is expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a broken jaw … and Mobley is out for six-to-eight weeks after knee surgery … and the Mitchell chatter is heating up more than ever.

But he’s not taking the bait. Clearly. The Cavs (14-12) beat the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday with plenty of Mitchell and a whole lot of balance, and Mitchell said the Cavs is where his allegiance very much remains.

“My job is to focus on this,” Mitchell said when asked about his future by Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “We have two guys that are out, so I’m not answering anything. And no disrespect. I appreciate that you have to ask the question, but I’m not going there with any of those questions. My focus is on these guys being out, us trying to find a way to get wins.”

The news on Garland and Mobley was released by the Cavs in the same press release on Friday. They beat the Hawks and have three more in a row at home, starting Monday against the Houston Rockets.

This is a manageable stretch even without Garland and Mobley. And Mitchell and his teammates are saying they’re committed to fighting past the adversity and thinking of nothing else.

“The only way we make this push is if we’re together on the floor,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t happen if it’s just one of us.”