Donovan Mitchell is extension-eligible for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer. The seven-time All-Star has given no indication that he wants out of Cleveland, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean he\u2019ll take this opportunity to extend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Cavs and Donovan are in a very good place,\u201d said Windhorst. \u201cAnd I think everyone should be prepared for the eventuality that he does not extend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell choosing not to extend could frighten some fans. We all have PTSD from the LeBron years. But this does not mean that Mitchell is getting ready to demand a trade or jump ship the following season. Instead, it just means he\u2019s got maximum money on his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is in a maximum leverage situation,\u201d said Windhorst. \u201cHe has one year left in his contract, and next year he can sign with all of the goodies that come along with a brand-new contract because he\u2019ll be a 10-year veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the difference between signing a deal this summer and waiting another year? A 5% bump in how much Mitchell can make. Signing next year, after he\u2019s completed his ninth NBA season, will make Mitchell eligible for 35% of the Cavs cap space as compared to the 30% available to him now.<\/p>\n
Mitchell averaged 27.9 points per game last season and reached his first conference finals. He\u2019s been an All-NBA member in three of his four seasons with Cleveland. To this point, Mitchell\u2019s time in the wine and gold has been mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n
Of course, not signing an extension this summer will bring another wave of rumors. Speculation will run rampant no matter what Mitchell intends with this decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only incentive that Mitchell has to sign right now is to do the Cavs a favor,\u201d said Windhorst. \u201cIf Donovan does not extend, it doesn\u2019t mean that he\u2019s leaving, it doesn\u2019t mean that he\u2019s unhappy, it doesn\u2019t mean that the Cavs should lose sleep, it does mean that he\u2019s maximizing his situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one can predict what next summer will bring. As of now, all we know is that it makes the most sense financially for Mitchell to hold off on signing an extension. That seems to be the path he will take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donovan Mitchell is extension-eligible for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer. The seven-time All-Star has given no indication that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,54862,590,85],"class_list":["post-740887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cavs-news","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}