Donovan Mitchell kept his word and stayed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a four-year contract extension worth $273 million.
In a statement, Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman stressed that Mitchell is an integral part of the team’s vision, touting the prolific guard’s “leadership, competitive fire, and professionalism.” Altman also noted Mitchell’s contributions to the community and his “lasting impact” that “reaches far beyond basketball.”
While the Cavaliers were happy with their decision, the massive contract raised some eyebrows. In a recent episode of “The Hoop Collective,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said retaining Mitchell was a “major win” for Cleveland, but he also implied that the seven-time All-Star was overpaid.
“We just saw how rough the market was for Jaylen Brown, in large part because of how much salary he made,” said MacMahon.
“One of the GMs basically said, in terms of this kind of money, you’ve got to be a generational talent, and this guy didn’t think Jaylen Brown was close to that. He essentially said, when you get into the $70 million (per year) range, which is obviously where this (Mitchell’s contract) is, there might only be a couple players in the league that are worth that kind of money. So there is a major risk involved here.”
MacMahon added that only Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder “make sense” to get that much money.
“It’s really hard to tie up that much of your salary cap in one player unless they’re truly generational,” stressed the veteran insider.
Mitchell was named to the All-NBA Second Team last season, averaging 27.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.4 steals.
He was named to the All-Star Game for the fourth time as a member of the Cavaliers, joining LeBron James, Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Kyrie Irving as the only players with at least four nods to the midseason showcase while playing in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers reached the conference finals for the first time since 2018, but they were swept by the New York Knicks.