People around the NBA seemingly will seize on any opportunity to speculate about Donovan Mitchell’s future with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The latest dire injury news that has befallen the team caused some of them to reach out to NBA insider Brian Windhorst for his latest views on the topic.
“When you heard this Cavs injury situation, my phone started goin’ on people within the league, executives, etc., who wanted to know what I thought that they would do with Donovan Mitchell,” Windhorst said at the 4:55 mark.
The Cavs last week learned that both Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will be out for multiple weeks because of injuries, and that was cause enough to again bring up Mitchell’s immediate and long-term future in Cleveland.
The 27-year-old has not yet agreed to a contract extension that could keep him with the Cavs for several more seasons. Until he does, any reason he may possibly want to play elsewhere will surely become noteworthy.
For his part, Mitchell has publicly remained staunchly committed to the Cavs and shut down questions about his future in the aftermath of the injury news by saying, “My job is to focus on this.”
Garland suffered a fractured jaw last week in a game against the Boston Celtics and is expected to be evaluated again in four weeks. Mobley has not played since Dec. 6 and is having knee surgery that will sideline him for six to eight weeks.
That misfortune leaves the Cavs without two starters for the foreseeable future. It comes in the midst of an uneven and disappointing start to the season that has them holding a 14-12 record heading into their home game Monday night against the Houston Rockets.
The Cavaliers were able to open their current home stand with a victory against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday that ended a three-game losing streak.
But how well they play during the lengthy absences of two of their best players will go a long way in determining how their fortunes turn out. If they should somehow fall out of playoff contention, the time might be ideal to seek a substantial haul in a possible trade of Mitchell this season.
Though the New York Knicks are regularly named as a likely someday destination for Mitchell, many teams undoubtedly would be keenly interested in the All-Star guard should he ever be put on the trade market by the Cavaliers.
