The Next Evolution of Donovan Mitchell: Point Guard?

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell has spent most of his career as a scorer.

An explosive first step, deep shooting range, shot-making and an ability to get points when Cleveland’s offense breaks down, especially in the playoffs have shaped and moulded his playing style whilst in the colors of the Cavs.

But Mitchell's next evolution might have less to do with how many points he scores and more with how often he creates them for everyone else. And that would make him even more dangerous than what he already is.

The question isn’t whether Mitchell should suddenly become a traditional point guard. It’s whether Cleveland can unlock him as its full-time offensive organizer.

We've already seen hints of what that could look like over the years, especially in the early stages of last season, when Cleveland suffered major injury setbacks.

Why this matters and how it would help the Cavaliers?

So, why does this matter, when Mitchell is already one of the best shooting guards in the NBA? Why fix something that isn’t broken?

Put the ball in Mitchell’s hands higher up the floor, surround him with shooters and players who can move without the ball exceptionally well – and the Cavs have them - and his scoring gravity becomes a weapon for the entire offense.

Defenders who once had to worry primarily about Mitchell attacking the rim or pulling up now have to make a choice: Stay attached to him or leave an open teammate.

Mitchell has long been capable of making the obvious pass. The more intriguing question is whether Cleveland can consistently make him responsible for creating the advantage in the first place.

Over the last two seasons, Mitchell has averaged 24.0 points (24-25) and 27.9 points (25-26) and has stayed at five assists in those campaigns. However, his peak season as a playmaker and scorer came in 2023-24, when he averaged 26.6 points and 6.1 assists per game.

A Mitchell-led offense doesn't necessarily need him to rack up assists. It needs him to manipulate the defense before the shot clock becomes a problem.

That could become especially important if the Cavaliers continue experimenting with different lineup configurations. Playing Mitchell alongside different combinations of ball-handlers, wings, and bigs could reveal which groups let him function as both scorer and creator without releasing what he is truly special at.

The numbers would tell part of the story, too. His assist-to-turnover rate, pick-and-roll efficiency and, perhaps most importantly, how Cleveland’s offense performs when Mitchell is the primary initiator would throw a lot of opposing defenses off, and it has done so when he was forced into playing the point.

The most dangerous version of Mitchell may not be the one who scores 35.

It might be the one who makes four other players easier to play with while still threatening to score 35 himself. That isn’t a position change.

It’s an evolution.