Cavs' Donovan Mitchell details what Cleveland needs to win championship

09/27/2024 04:39 PM

Heading into the upcoming NBA season, people are down on the Cleveland Cavaliers. While the Cavs have plenty of star power, they share the same conference with the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, and defending champion Boston Celtics. But to Cavs superstar Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland is being underestimated. In Mitchell’s eyes, Cleveland can hang with anyone if the Cavs are healthy by playoff time.

“We're championship contenders when we're healthy,” said Mitchell. “I feel like last year we grew in a lot of ways. We played a lot of different ways. Now, during that stretch, we went on. Obviously, D.G. [Darius Garland] and Evan [Mobley] were hurt. But we found something that really can help bring us to the next level. So now the trick is how do we continue to implement that style of play over 82 [regular-season games] and then the final 16 [playoff] wins. But the development, that's part of the reasons why I decided to sign was because I believe in our development. I believe in the hunger and the will that we have as a group.

“And so, for us, I believe we're cherished contenders when healthy. But at the end of the day, I can tell you this: we got to go out there and continue to prove it on a daily basis. We haven't done anything. We just one more game than we did two years ago me. So now it's how do we find ways to continue to win and build and build and move forward. And we haven't accomplished what we needed to accomplish. We've done a lot, but we have more to go.”

Why Donovan Mitchell is right about the Cavs

Mitchell, who signed a three-year, $150.3 million maximum contract extension this offseason, just averaged 26.6 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game for a 48-win Cavs team that finished with the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed.

The five-time All-Star guided the Cavs to a first-round series win over the Orlando Magic, but Cleveland fell in five games to Boston in the second round. However, Cleveland still had a good season, reaching the conference semifinals for the first time without LeBron James since 1993.

A healthier Cavs team can make a deeper playoff run, although there’s plenty of competition in the Eastern Conference for the team to face. As for this season, the Cavs open the year up with a road date against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, Oct. 23.

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