After their 4-1 series defeat to the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers exited the postseason tournament and with that, a domino effect started. In the falling Domino’s HC J.B. Bickerstaff’s future is a significant one to be discussed along with that of Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell was absent in the last two Cavs games with a calf strain and without him, the Cleveland franchise lacked the firepower to deal with the Cs. There were murmurs after the defeat that the 27-year-old is unhappy in Cleveland, but that has now been put to rest by Adrian Wojnarowski. According to the insider, Donovan Mitchell is happy at where he is and shot down the speculations surrounding his future.
“I reached out to Donovan Mitchell [Thursday] and he was emphatic in telling me that he is not disgruntled with anyone or anything in Cleveland,” said Wojnarowski. He further added, “In fact, he said to me ‘I am happy in Cleveland. I’ve been happy since I arrived in Cleveland’ and he thinks this Cavs team made progress this season. Obviously, winning that best-of-seven first-round series against the Magic, to get to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2018.”
The same thing about progress was told by the Cavs HC in a post-game interview as well, so there is a belief among the staff and players about the progressive direction of the franchise. Despite that, rumors of Mitchell being unhappy with his teammates also ran rampant in the hours following the game. To address that, Mitchell himself had to respond.
Donovan Mitchell Responds to Rumors
Following the 113-98 loss in game 5 of the series, Cleveland-based reporter, Chris Fedor wrote that Mitchell grew frustrated with some of his teammates and their lack of maturity in the playoffs.
The 5-time NBA All-Star took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to respond to that and wrote, “Yeah aight [cap emoji] I’m sick of yall sometimes!”
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While Mitchell denies the reports, his partnership with Darius Garland is yet to flourish as much as was expected. With the 27-year-old’s contract situation, the possibility of keeping them both together next season with the Cavs seems a longshot. If Mitchell doesn’t sign a contract extension that is due to run out in 2025, a trade is the only option left for the Cavs and there are multiple suitors for the talented guard, including the Lakers.
But there is a growing belief in the league that Mitchell will remain with the franchise next season by signing a new deal which should allay the fears of the Cleveland natives.
