Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell agree to three-year extension

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell.

The Cavaliers and star guard Donovan Mitchell have agreed to terms on a three-year, maximum-salary contract extension projected to be worth more than $150M, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal will include a third-year player option, Wojnarowski adds.

Mitchell, who spent his first five NBA seasons in Utah, was traded to Cleveland in 2022 for a significant package of assets that included Lauri Markkanen and three future unprotected first-round picks. Since joining the Cavs, Mitchell has led the team to consecutive top-four seeds in the East and has averaged 27.5 points, 5.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per night across 123 regular season games, with a shooting line of .475/.378/.866.

There was plenty of speculation over the past two years that playing outside of a major NBA market and not experiencing significant postseason success may prompt Mitchell to forgo an extension in Cleveland in order to seek a change of scenery. The Cavs were eliminated in the first round in 2023 and eked out a first-round win in Game 7 over the lower-seeded Magic in 2024 before being knocked out in round two.

However, Cleveland has long projected confidence that Mitchell would make a commitment to the franchise, with head of basketball operations Koby Altman publicly reiterating that message on Monday. The coaching change the Cavs made this offseason signaled that management was in alignment with Mitchell, who reportedly didn’t have full confidence in J.B. Bickerstaff and endorsed the hiring of Kenny Atkinson.

Within his full story on the extension agreement, Wojnarowski writes that Mitchell and agent Austin Brown feel good about the partnership with the Cavs and have confidence in the front office’s ability to continue building the roster into a championship contender

Mitchell’s new contract — which will begin in 2025-26, replacing the player option in his current agreement — could have been for up to four years. However, a three-year extension with a player option will put him on track to potentially sign a new deal beginning in 2027, when he has 10 years of NBA experience and will qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap (instead of 30%). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported last month that Mitchell would likely take this route.

Based on the NBA’s most recent cap projection for 2025-26, Mitchell’s new deal would start at $46,394,100, with a guaranteed $50,105,628 salary for 2026-27 and a $53,817,156 player option for 2027-28. The total would be $150,316,884.

Now that they know they’ll have Mitchell under contract for at least the next three seasons, the Cavaliers can move forward with plans to address the rest of the roster around him.

There were rumors in the spring that the team may consider trades to address the overlapping skill sets in the backcourt (Mitchell and Darius Garland) and frontcourt (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) and to better balance the roster. On top of that, one report indicated that a Mitchell extension might prompt Garland's agent, Rich Paul, to talk to the team about the possibility of finding a new home for his client.

However, Altman indicated in May that he’s not inclined to trade any of the club’s core four players, and reports since then have confirmed that stance hasn’t changed. Additionally, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com recently pointed out via Twitter, some of the teams that were considered likely suitors for Garland have already addressed their point guard spot in other ways (e.g. Dejounte Murray in New Orleans; Chris Paul in San Antonio).

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