The Cleveland Cavaliers got another impressive win on Friday night, but Cavs star Donovan Mitchell suffered a major sports loss along the way.
Mitchell, who is a New York native, admitted that he didn’t even want to finish the game after hearing that Jacob deGrom left the New York Mets to join the Texas Rangers.
“I wasn’t going to even come out and finish the game. I am hurt! I. AM. HURT!”#Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell to me about Jacob deGrom signing with the Texas Rangers.
Mitchell found out at halftime.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) December 3, 2022
deGrom left the Mets and signed a massive new contract with the Rangers. It’s a five-year deal worth $185 million.
It’s not all that different from a deal that Mitchell himself signed with the Utah Jazz a couple of years ago. Of course, he is now playing out the rest of that deal with the Cavs.
Mitchell was traded from Utah to Cleveland during the 2022 offseason, and the Cavs’ decision to make that move has been incredibly rewarding for the club. So far in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Cavs have looked like one of the best teams in basketball.
Though Mitchell may have been heartbroken by the deGrom news on Friday, his performance in Cleveland’s win over the Orlando Magic did not indicate that. He finished the night with 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 shooting from deep.
It was the kind of performance Cavs fans have come to fully expect from the University of Louisville product. So far this season, Mitchell is averaging 28.7 points, 4.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.
His efficiency has been off the charts all season long, as he’s hitting 49.4 percent shots from the field and 43.5 percent of his deep shots.
At the moment, the Cavs are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 15-8.
They have some fun games coming up on their schedule. They’ll take on the New York Knicks on Sunday. The Knicks were heavily interested in Mitchell before he was traded to the Cavs.
After that game, the Cavs will host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s always a party when the former Cavs superstar comes to town, and Mitchell and company will surely look to get a win against the Cleveland legend.
