NBA

Donovan Mitchell warns the Cavs are going for the NBA title after his recent double-double exhibition

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Antonio Kozlow
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Antonio Kozlow Sports Editor

Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.

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Updated30 Nov 2023

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Even though the Cavaliers beat the Hawks by 23 points on Tuesday, the Cleveland team wasn’t able to stay alive in the In-Season Tournament. They finished 3-1 in second place of the East Group A, but the New York Knicks took their place in the next eight-team knockout round. 

Nevertheless, the Ohio franchise is feeling positive, especially after Donovan Mitchell‘s impressive double-double performance against Atlanta. The All-Star dropped in 40 points and added 11 rebounds, while teammate Evan Mobley added 17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

The 27-year-old is convinced that this team is set for something big this campaign. “You want to win a championship and make the extra bread,” said Mitchell.

“But you look at the little things we’ve done over the last couple days and that’s what we want to continue to build on,” he assured. “We didn’t get this championship, so let’s go focus on the next one.”

Donovan wants to focus on the positives right now, as he just produced his best performance of the season so far, hitting 14 out of his 25 shots. Teammate Darius Garland also contributed 19 points against the Georgia club who’ve been producing high-scoring games.

“The biggest thing was defensively setting the tone against a team that can get going,” Mitchell explained. “Especially these last few games, they’ve put up 140, 150 whatever.”

As the match was coming to an end, some of Cleveland’s assistants were monitoring the other games from their seats, announcing that even though they’d win, the Cavs were still not making it to the quarterfinals.

“I feel like we were all trying to score, but also respect the game,” the squad star shared. “So it’s different, especially when they took their starters out, you’re trying to balance it. But at the end of the day, you’re playing to win. You’re playing to get to Vegas, get to the tournament. But it’s definitely a little weird.”

Rival coach Quinn Snyder agreed that this made the end-game situation a bit uncomfortable. “To be honest, I try to focus on my team,” he said. “I’m sure you can understand that. In that situation, it isn’t ideal.”

NBA executives are reportedly monitoring Donovan Mitchell as he’s refused to sign an extension in Cleveland

The fact that Donovan Mitchell is yet to sign a contract extension with the Cavaliers hasn’t gone unnoticed in the NBA, as franchise executives are reportedly following his footsteps lately.

NBA insider Michael Scotto recently wrote an article where he explains how various teams are monitoring his situation and hoping to sign him over during the upcoming offseason.

“Rival NBA executives are monitoring Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell’s happiness in Cleveland,” he wrote. “Mitchell is signed through next season before a $37 million player option for the 2025-26 season, which many around the league expect him to eventually decline.”

He then revealed how badly his team want him to remain in Ohio. “Cleveland wants to sign Mitchell to a long-term contract down the line and is in no rush to move him after making offseason moves to improve the team around him and the team’s core, including the offseason additions of his former Jazz teammate Georges Niang and former Heat sharpshooter Max Strus,” it reads.