CLEVELAND, OHIO – JANUARY 05: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers smiles during the third quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on January 05, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Hornets 115-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Getty Images
On Tuesday, Donovan Mitchell became eligible to sign a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And on Tuesday, he agreed to sign a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension with the Cavaliers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. His new deal includes a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.
Had Mitchell not signed an extension this offseason, he could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer by declining his $53.8 million player option. He’s now projected to earn more than $60 million in 2027-28, and his new deal will culminate in a $75-plus million (!) player option in 2030-31, his age-34 season.
Had Mitchell chosen to test free agency in 2027, he could have tacked on one extra year worth more than $80 million to his new contract. It’s fair to wonder how willing the Cavaliers would be to give him that extra year, though, particularly if they don’t advance deep in the playoffs this coming season.
The Cavaliers did make it to the Eastern Conference Finals this past year for the first time since LeBron James left for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. This summer, they appear to be in the driver’s seat to add James in free agency. That would likely push them into the upper echelon of championship contenders this season, although the 41-year-old James wouldn’t factor into their long-term future. (Mitchell’s extension also has zero impact on how much money the Cavaliers can offer James this offseason.)
Perhaps the Cavaliers saw Mitchell’s extension as a necessary evil in their pursuit of James. Had he not signed it, Mitchell’s future in Cleveland would be under the microscope for the entire season. James might not have been as interested in joining the Cavaliers with that drama swirling around them.
However, if the Cavaliers whiff on landing James, it’s fair to wonder how they take the final step toward a championship, particularly with Mitchell now set to gobble up 35% of their cap space for the remainder of the decade.
Can Mitchell Live Up To His New Contract?
At the moment, Mitchell is unquestionably one of the top 10 or so players in the NBA. He’s made seven straight All-Star teams, finished in the top seven of MVP voting in three of the past four seasons, and he’s been named to an All-NBA team in three of the past four seasons as well. It’d likely be 4-for-4 had he played in the required 65 games to qualify for end-of-season awards in 2023-24.
Mitchell has averaged at least 24 points, four rebounds and four assists in each of the past seven seasons. He’s one of only three players to hit those marks every year over that span, joining new Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić. He’s also fresh off a season in which he averaged nearly 28 points per game while shooting 48.3% overall.
But the Cavaliers aren’t paying Mitchell for what he’s done so far. They’re paying him for what he’s expected to do over the remainder of the decade. That’s where this deal could come back to bite them.
Mitchell turns 30 in early September. He’s one of the most potent scorers in the NBA for now, but will that be the case three or four years from now?
Mitchell isn’t overly reliant on athleticism to generate his scoring opportunities, so the Cavaliers might not be too concerned about age-related decline if he loses a half-step in the coming years. Mitchell’s backcourt partner, James Harden, just averaged 20-plus points per game in his age-36 season, after all.
But unlike Harden, Mitchell isn’t a preternatural passer, nor is he 6’5″. He’s a 6’2″ combo guard. He isn’t a total negative on defense—he’s far better than the similarly undersized Trae Young in that regard—but he isn’t a defensive stopper, either.
In this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs were outscored by 66 points in Mitchell’s 149 minutes on the floor compared to only 11 points in his 48 minutes off. That isn’t to imply that the Cavaliers are better off without Mitchell, but it’s a red flag nevertheless, particularly as the Cavs further box themselves into this core.
Cavaliers’ Team-Building Challenges
The Boston Celtics recently sent shockwaves across the NBA by trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. Team president Brad Stevens explained how Brown’s contract factored into that decision.
“When I looked at our team and where the league was heading, looked at the way that we’ve finished the last couple years and at the unbelievable way we’ve played in the regular season in the last couple years, the path looked a little bit more challenging to me,” Stevens said. “I might be wrong. I’m not going to stand up here and be defensive about that, but the path looked a little bit more challenging, with 70% of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players [Brown and Jayson Tatum].
The Cavaliers don’t have another player on a 35% max deal, but they do have Evan Mobley on a 30% max. Jarrett Allen is earning roughly 17-18% of the cap over the next three seasons, and we’ll see what Harden’s next contract looks like soon enough.
Either way, the Cavs project to be top-heavy as long as Mitchell, Mobley and Allen are all still in town.
While trying to explain the Brown trade to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, one NBA general manager pointed out the challenges in building around someone on a 35% max contract in the second-apron era.
“It’s really hard to tie up that much of your salary cap in one player unless they’re truly generational,” the GM said. “And he’s not even close to that. If you supermax Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] or [Nikola Jokić], it makes sense. That’s probably the list.”
While the GM was referring to Brown there, he could have just as easily been talking about Mitchell. After all, Brown has also been an All-Star in five of the past six seasons, made the All-NBA second team twice in the past four years and was sixth in the MVP race this past season.
Brown is fresh off averaging a career-high 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game this past season while helping lead the Celtics to 56 wins, mostly without Jayson Tatum. That didn’t stop the Celtics from trading him for surprisingly little.
Will the Cavaliers run into the same issue with Mitchell down the line if he doesn’t return positive value on his contract? They should at least be asking themselves that question after seeing how the Brown saga just played out in Boston.
It’s hard to blame the Cavaliers for taking that contractual plunge with Mitchell despite the risks. Having his future unresolved going into the 2026-27 campaign would be a recipe for season-long drama. Even if that didn’t factor into the LeBron calculus, no team would actively court that type of chaos, especially when it was easily preventable.
But the Cavs might have just condemned themselves to learning a tough lesson about the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, just as the Celtics have over the past year.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
Follow Bryan on Bluesky.