Donovan Mitchell looks back on career-altering trade to Cavs

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell reacted on social media to a 2022 post from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that announced that he’d been traded from the Utah Jazz to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mitchell appeared to celebrate the anniversary of when he was sent to Cleveland, a massive day for his career and for the Cavs franchise.

To acquire Mitchell, Cleveland traded away forward Lauri Markkanen, guard Collin Sexton, guard Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps to the Jazz. It was a massive deal, but it has paid off with Mitchell leading the Cavs to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

This offseason, the Cavs were able to extend Mitchell’s contract, a huge win for the franchise. The new extension will keep Mitchell with the Cavs through the 2026-27 season, and he has a player option for the 2027-28 campaign.

Last season, the Cavs won their first playoff series with Mitchell on the roster, defeating the Orlando Magic in seven games. Mitchell had some massive performances in that series, scoring 50 points in a loss in Game 6 and 39 points in the Cavs’ series-clinching win in Game 7.

Unfortunately, an injury knocked Mitchell out during Cleveland’s second-round series against the Boston Celtics. He missed the final two matchups of that series as Boston defeated the Cavs in just five games.

Cleveland has built a solid roster around Mitchell with Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland creating one of the better cores in the Eastern Conference. Since coming to the Cavs, Mitchell has earned two All-Star selections and was named to an All-NBA team during the 2022-23 season.

During the 2023-24 regular 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.

Cavs fans have to love how enthusiastic Mitchell is about being a part of the Cavs franchise, and it’s possible that he could spend the rest of his career with the franchise.

For now, the Cavs are focused on improving in the 2024-25 season and hopefully getting back to an NBA Finals – this time with Mitchell leading the way.