The Cleveland Cavaliers and star guard Donovan Mitchell agreed on a four-year, $273 million contract extension Tuesday that could keep him on the shores of Lake Erie through the 2031 season, two league sources granted anonymity because the team has not announced the extension confirmed to The Athletic.
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Mitchell, 29, is a nine-time All-Star who is already statistically one of the greatest Cavaliers ever and became eligible for a contract extension Tuesday. The deal includes a player option for the 2030-31 season. ESPN first reported the agreement.
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Mitchell’s extension won’t begin until the 2027-28 season and doesn’t impact the one guaranteed season left on his current contract for $50.1 million. Mitchell’s player option is $75 million for the 2030-31 season, when he turns 34 years old.
Mitchell, whom the Cavs traded for in September 2022, could have waited a year and signed a five-year, $353 million extension with the Cavs next summer as a 10-year veteran. Instead, Mitchell opted for financial security and protection against injury, while at the same time, confirming what he’s been telling The Athletic all along — he likes it in Cleveland.
“This is an organization that’s willing to do (anything) for its players,” Mitchell told The Athletic in April.
Mitchell has averaged 26.7 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field across his 264 regular-season games for the Cavaliers since being traded from the Utah Jazz. Cleveland has reached the postseason in each of his four seasons there, reaching the conference finals last season for the first time since 1993 without LeBron James on the roster.
Mitchell’s first appearance in the conference finals was last season, even though his teams have reached the postseason in each of his nine NBA seasons.
Speaking of James, the agreement between the Cavs and Mitchell is a great start to what could be a monumental week for Cleveland. The Cavs are also hoping James, 41, picks them in free agency, which would create a workplace marriage between the franchise’s forever and current faces. James was Mitchell’s favorite player as a teenager growing up in Elmsford, N.Y., a New York City suburb 20 miles north of Manhattan.
Outside of James’ looming decision, Cleveland will soon ink another future Hall of Famer, James Harden, to a lucrative, multiyear contract. The Athletic previously reported that Harden, who has played for the Cavs since the team traded for him at the February trade deadline, has agreed to a new deal in principle — but the two sides are waiting to finalize it so the organization can have maximum flexibility to make another move, like signing James.