Donovan Mitchell On Cavs: ‘I’m Excited. I Wouldn’t Have Re-Signed If I Wasn’t’

September 24, 2024

For the Cavaliers, much will be the same entering the season. That includes the core four of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, with largely the same players off the bench.

The only notable change, in fact, comes at head coach with new main man Kenny Atkinson. The rotation will remain largely the same — at least to start the season.

But hey, that is apparently just fine with Mitchell, who signed a three-year max contract extension this offseason. (Mobley, Allen and Isaac Okoro also return with new deals in place.)

“I’m excited. First off, I mean I wouldn’t have re-signed if I wasn’t,” Mitchell said on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. “I think the biggest thing, we got a lot of guys that want to, and you know how that is, you could throw a bunch of people together and you know how the league is, some guys just don’t want to [be there]. You know what I’m saying?”

The Cavaliers advanced to the first round of the playoffs two years ago, and then the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. That’s where they lost to the eventual champion Celtics. But Mitchell said he believes they’re headed in the right direction as currently constructed.

“We lost to the Knicks two years ago and the summer after that, it was just a different look, a different vibe just from the player standpoint of like, all right, bet it’s not going to happen again. And even though we got Orlando, which is a really good team, took us seven games,’ he said. There was a moment in Game 7 where it was like, nah, it ain’t happening. You know what I’m saying?

“So my thing is it’s all about the steps. It’s all about the building process. You don’t just put a team together and go win the chip. Like Boston been together for what, eight years, seven years and they finally got to the mountain top. Everybody assumes it’s going to happen right away … but you got to understand it’s a process. So just continuing to build upon that.”

With training camp now just a week away, the mindset for the Cavs appears to be set — and no less than their brightest star is leading the way.