On the morning of July 2nd, 2024, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced the extension of their star player Donovan Mitchell. The extension is for two years with a third-year option and worth up to $150.3 million dollars.  The Cleveland Cavaliers now have Mitchell under contract for the next 3 years.  In the 2022 offseason the Cavaliers traded for the point guard from the Utah Jazz, and it was a gamble to make that trade. After this contract extension, the trade was won by the Cavaliers.

To acquire the services of Mitchell, the Cavaliers sent three players and three first round picks to the Utah Jazz. At that time Utah was in a rebuild. The Cavaliers were trying to make moves to contend and make the playoffs. They did make the playoffs the last two consecutive seasons. What this extension and recent coaching change will say to Cavs fans that this team was not satisfied with making the Eastern Conference semifinals. Fans and pundits truly believed that Mitchell was on his way out of Cleveland. It turns out that this was not at all the case.

The rumors of Donovan Mitchell’s exit from Cleveland have been circulating since the 2023 NBA offseason. Despite the rumors Mitchell said that he was happy in Cleveland, and he sees the potential this team has. The angst of losing Lebron James twice still lingers with Cleveland fans. But this is different because Donovan Mitchell is different. Historically Cleveland has struggled keeping star players. However, with this extension along with Myles Garrett and Jose Ramirez staying in Cleveland shows that the past is the past. As fans we cannot control what star players do and if they want to leave, they will do that. We can only worry about what we can control. And we can control our support for our teams.