NBA source offers reality check on Donovan Mitchell trade buzz

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly have “zero” interest in trading All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell this season.

While the Cavs have not started the season as strong as they would have liked – posting a record of 18-14 in 32 games – the team doesn’t appear to be ready to move off of Mitchell, who is under contract through the 2024-25 season and has a player option for the 2025-26 campaign.

Even with Evan Mobley and Darius Garland banged up, it appears the Cavs are focused on trying to win this season.

“The Cavs have ‘zero interest’ in trading their All-Star guard,” Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto wrote. “I got that from a top NBA source.

“The Mitchell trade speculation is inspired because the Cavs lost Darius Garland (broken jaw) and Evan Mobley (arthroscopic knee surgery) to injuries. But as my source said, ‘They are not season-ending injuries. They should be back in 4 to 6 weeks, maybe before that.’”

Cleveland has been able to stay in the mix in the Eastern Conference (currently the No. 6 seed) even with Garland and Mobley out of the lineup, so it makes sense that the team wants to keep its roster intact for when the two stars eventually return.

Mitchell has been rumored to be a potential trade target because of the fact that he could opt out of his contract after the 2024-25 season and sign with another team. If the Cavs can’t convince him to re-sign and stay in Cleveland, they may need to eventually trade him to get something in return for the star guard.

However, it does not appear that the team is currently looking to do so.

This season, Mitchell is playing at a high level, averaging 28.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.

After making an All-NBA team and his fourth All-Star team last season, Mitchell appears to be well on his way to more accolades in the 2023-24 campaign.

The Cavs clearly believe they can contend with Mitchell, Garland and Mobley on the roster, especially after the team finished with the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference last season.

Cleveland is just 1.5 games back of the No. 4 seed and four games back of the No. 3 seed in the East this season. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cavs can improve once they get healthy.