Donovan Mitchell has been off to a scorching start to his Cleveland Cavaliers career and on Friday he etched himself into team history. Mitchell became only the second Cavs player to reach 500 points during his first 17 games joining only LeBron James as per ESPN’s Stats&Info page.
Donovan Mitchell reached that plateau during the Cavs game against the Milwaukee Bucks. LeBron James first reached that milestone during the 2007-08 season.
Mitchell arrived in Cleveland via an off-season trade with the Utah Jazz. Through Friday, he had been putting up career-highs across the boards. He’s averaging 30.1 points per game, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists. The Cavs starting point guard Darius Garland has missed a few games this season with injury issues and Mitchell has been able to step right in a play the point. He’s shooting career-highs from the field at 50.5 percent, and from three-point range at 42.3 percent. He’s also leading the league in minutes played at 37.8.
Mitchell has been getting to the free-throw line almost six times per game and is knocking them down at an 87.2 percent clip. Behind Mitchell’s strong offensive start to the season, the Cavs have been eighth in the league in points per game at 115.5 and fourth in offensive rating at 116.7.
A former dunk contest champion, Mitchell has also shown of his explosive hops this season as well. A three-time All-Star, Mitchell could even see himself in the running for the league’s MVP award. The Cavs currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 12-6.
