Jarrett Allen on Donovan Mitchell: ‘He’s a top 10 player in the league’

Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen had some major praise for star guard Donovan Mitchell, calling him a top-10 player in the NBA right now.

“Donovan is a star,” Allen told HoopsHype. “He’s a Top 10 player in the league, some would say, and I would say. Cleveland needs someone like that. Cleveland needs someone to hold onto like that and root for. It got the city excited again knowing that we had one of the best players in the NBA to stick with us. For the Cavs, you can see how it’s helping us now. He’s able to take over games and lead the team to victory.”

Allen, Mitchell and the Cavs are off to a fast start in the 2024-25 season, as they hold the best record in the NBA at 16-1. While the Cavs did lose their first game of the season on Tuesday against Boston, they started the season at 15-0 and have built a 2.5-game lead on the Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Mitchell has been a major part of the Cavs’ fast start to the season. He’s currently averaging 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc.

A five-time All-Star, Mitchell was traded to the Cavs prior to the 2022-23 season, and he has immediately turned them into a perennial playoff contender.

The Cavs earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference in each of the last two seasons, and they won a playoff series last season against the Orlando Magic.

While Cleveland ended up getting knocked out of the playoffs in the second round last season by the Celtics, Mitchell didn’t play in every game in that series, so it’s possible the team’s ceiling is higher than a second-round exit.

The Cavs are hoping that the star guard can stay healthy during the 2024-25 season, as Allen and the Cavs have some major expectations for themselves.

Allen recently said that the team wants to make the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2024-25 season, a reasonable goal given the Cavs’ fast start.

Mitchell made an All-NBA team during his first season with the Cavs, but he did not qualify for the honor last season since he did not meet the 65-game threshold (Mitchell played in just 55 games).

If he wants to cement himself as one of the best players in the league, earning another All-NBA nod would go a long way on Mitchell’s resume.