Report: Nets Likely To Pursue Donovan Mitchell Trade With Cavaliers

According to NBA reporters Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Brian Lewis of The New York Post, the Brooklyn Nets will likely pursue a Donovan Mitchell trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Mitchell can sign an extension for up to four years and around $200 million this summer. The 27-year-old has a player option worth $37 million for the 2025-26 season.

Mitchell can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 if he declines that player option. 

Scotto: “Brian, I know in the past you haven’t been at liberty to say who the Nets could go after. Donovan Mitchell (coughs). That’s who I’m looking at.”

Lewis: “I think everything they’ve done implies to me for the last year and change that this is a reset for 2025. Now, I have also added the caveat that there are a few players who could accelerate that process. Donovan Mitchell is one of those few. I don’t see a way that he walks away in free agency. If you know for certain that he’s leaving, one would think you’re bringing back assets for that in the summer or January before the trade deadline.

“You have to be flexible enough to pivot in case Mitchell, a native New Yorker who happens to love New York, his people are still in New York and has friends on the roster, becomes available.”

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there is a growing belief that the Cavaliers will be forced to trade Mitchell if an extension isn’t reached. The Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks have been linked to Mitchell, who doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract. 

One of the best players in the NBA, Mitchell averaged 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists this season while shooting 46.2% from the field, 36.8% from 3 and 86.5% from the free-throw line.

Mitchell has career averages of 24.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. He scored a career-high 71 points last season against the Chicago Bulls. 

The Cavaliers will face the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. Cleveland lost to the Knicks in the first round of the 2023 postseason in five games.