Dwyane Wade Gives Donovan Mitchell Advice After Losing In Second Round Of Playoffs Again

NBA legend Dwyane Wade and Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell are close friends. 

Wade, one of the best shooting guards in NBA history, gave Mitchell some advice after  Spida lost in the second round of the playoffs again. 

Mitchell has never reached the conference finals in his career. 

“He has to find a way,” Wade said on his podcast. “Obviously, his leadership, he can’t do it all of course. Everything has to go right. But he has to find a way because he wants to be in that conversation with the greats. He puts the work in. He has the ability. He wants to be in the conversation. He has to find a way.

“And so, I wanna see what his summer is gonna be like. … Take it all in. Feel that pain. Feel that hurt. Envision yourself being out here next year.”

The Cavaliers acquired Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in 2022.

Cleveland lost to the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 playoffs and lost to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of this year’s postseason. 

Mitchell gave everything he had in the Pacers series. He wasn’t even close to 100%, but the All-Star shooting guard still averaged 34.2 points.  

“Just couldn’t believe it,” Mitchell said after Cleveland’s season ended. “Didn’t want to believe it, don’t want to believe it, still don’t want to believe it. It’s tough. It’s tough to win in this league. Give them credit. We didn’t do the things necessary.

“I told you all during the year, we’re going to be judged by this. There will be a lot of talk. That’s what comes with it. Didn’t capitalize. So now we gotta use this as motivation. Everybody’s gonna write us off, everybody in here. It’s not personal, (but) what are we going to do about it next year?”

Mitchell had a great year for the Cavaliers. He averaged 24.0 points in the regular season and 29.6 points in the postseason. No one can blame him for the Cavaliers going home early. 

“We were 0-3 at home, man,” Mitchell said. “Let the city down. This place is special, this place is really special.”

There will be no Mitchell trade rumors this summer. He wants to finish his career in Cleveland. 

However, the roster around Mitchell and Evan Mobley has to get better.