Knee Still Bothering Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, Who Is ‘Prioritizing’ Playoffs

According to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell‘s left knee is still bothering him. 

Mitchell received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection to treat a left knee bone bruise, but the All-Star still can’t explode how he wants to. 

"[Donovan Mitchell] has got a nasal fracture that he had surgery on…Even bigger than that, he's got an ailing bone bruise in his knee."@ShamsCharania updates on Donovan Mitchell's injury.

📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0SliI pic.twitter.com/Sw09ADlxad

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 21, 2024

On March 5, Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff told NBA reporters that the organization believed Mitchell would be “back to full strength” after the PRP injection. 

“You’re always obviously concerned, but we’re confident these next steps will be the steps that are necessary [to get him healthy],” Bickerstaff said, via ESPN. “It was one of those things where he was trying to play through it, but he just was hampered and you could see he couldn’t explode, he couldn’t move in certain directions because of the pain and how it was limited.

“I’m not a doctor, but from everything that I’m hearing, the time, the rest and the process should give him back to full strength.”

Along with his knee hurting, Mitchell sustained a nasal fracture against the Houston Rockets on March 16. A medical procedure was performed and Mitchell is set to be re-evaluated next week. 

Mitchell is averaging 27.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.5 blocks this season while shooting 46.8% from the field, 37.3% from beyond the arc and 86.2% from the free-throw line. 

The 27-year-old Mitchell is sixth in the NBA in points per game. 

Mitchell has a player option worth $37 million for the 2025-26 season. The Louisville product can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 if he declines that player option. 

A New York native, Mitchell has career averages of 24.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.3 blocks with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. He scored a career-high 71 points last season against the Chicago Bulls. 

The Cavaliers are 43-26 on the season. They are in third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

If the regular season ended today, Cleveland would face the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.