3-time NBA champ calls cap on Donovan Mitchell being happy in Cleveland

Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem offered his thoughts on Donovan Mitchell’s status with the Cleveland Cavaliers and how it could impact the franchise’s offseason.

Mitchell has to decide whether or not to sign a contract extension in Cleveland that would tie him to the franchise for the long haul. Right now, Mitchell is under contract for the 2024-25 season and has a player option for the 2025-26 season that he could decline to become a free agent.

“When you talk about Cleveland, I don’t want no parts of that until I understand what Donovan Mitchell gon’ do,” Haslem said. “He say he happy there, but he ain’t sign that extension. So, I’m calling cap. If you happy, sign the extension, so we as a front office can say, ‘Hey, we got Donovan Mitchell locked in. This is what we gon’ look like the next couple years. This is the plan we trying to put together to win a championship.’

“You can use that in free agency. But, if Donovan Mitchell ain’t signing that extension, you can’t go to nobody talking about, ‘Oh, in two, three years, this is what the team gon’ look like. This is what we want to do.’”

Haslem makes a good point about the Cavs’ pursuit of players in the offseason, as it may be easier to sell free agents on a roster that has an All-Star like Mitchell leading the way.

This season, Mitchell appeared in 55 games for the Cavs and averaged 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.

He had some big scoring games in the playoffs, leading Cleveland past the Orlando Magic in the first round. A calf injury cost Mitchell the end of the second round of the postseason against the Boston Celtics, and the Cavs ultimately lost the series in five games.

While the Cavs have talented players on the roster outside of Mitchell (Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen to name a few), there’s no doubt that they have a higher ceiling when it comes to contending for a title if Mitchell is healthy.

One NBA executive believes the Cavs are “weirdly optimistic” about their chances of keeping Mitchell for the long haul.

If Mitchell does sign an extension, it could give the Cavs some interesting options on how to improve the roster. Cleveland could consider moving on from Garland or Allen, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speculated recently that the Cavs will consider Allen trades this offseason.

Haslem may think that Mitchell isn’t happy because he hasn’t signed an extension yet, but the five-time All-Star could prove him wrong by inking a contract this offseason. Until he does – or decides not to – the Cavs’ future with this roster is up in the air.