Other teams can call, and have. But they’re only going to get shot down.
That’s been the Cavaliers’ stance on trading Donovan Mitchell, and by all accounts, it will remain that way.
Teams began reaching out to the Cavs about eight games ago, when it was announced that Darius Garland (jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee) would miss significant time. The Cavs refuted those overtures then.
They undoubtedly will receive more calls on Mitchell between now and the Feb. 8 trade deadline. And their response is likely to be the same.
This is something we’ve written here repeatedly and was again mentioned by Zach Lowe of ESPN (for a second time, actually).
“And I continue to hear that Cleveland, which has done a decent job sort of staying afloat without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell in some recent games, just doesn’t want to entertain the notion of trading Donovan Mitchell as I always say, and his people and other people have reported,” Lowe said on The Lowe Post podcast, via HoopsHype. “That changes in one phone call from Donovan Mitchell’s representation or agent or whatever, but like as of now, I think the Cavs have done pretty well gutting it out.”
Lowe is correct. This is the NBA, so you never say never when it comes to trades. But Mitchell has been with Cleveland for one season and 33 games. It would be silly to deal a star backcourt player so soon into his tenure.
Lowe is also correct when he says the Cavs (18-15) have been “gutting it out” in the absence of Garland and Mobley. They’re in the mix for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference. No need to change just for the sake of it.
You can worry about all this stuff after the season. Anything else would be a panic move, and panic rarely results in winning big.
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