CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Celtics couldn’t guard Donovan Mitchell on Tuesday, which sounds a lot like saying the weather was nice on Wednesday afternoon. Duh. Have you stepped outside? Did you watch Mitchell play?
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Celtics couldn’t guard Donovan Mitchell on Tuesday, which sounds a lot like saying the weather was nice on Wednesday afternoon. Duh. Have you stepped outside? Did you watch Mitchell play?
He looked unstoppable while scoring 33 points during Game 1 against elite perimeter defenders like Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. He looked ready to force Boston into a longer series than it wants in the second round.
But after Cleveland’s 120-95 loss at T.D. Garden, his highlights look more like a hoop mixtape than a serious threat to the Celtics. And those optics could create a problem much bigger than the Jaylen Brown-sized issue Cleveland dealt with during Game 1.
Forget Mitchell’s injured knee, which has looked healthy enough to average 40.7 points over Cleveland’s last three playoff games. What Cleveland’s superstar needs most right now is a helping hand.
Since Game 6 in Orlando, he’s scored 122 points, which is only three fewer than his fellow starters (125) in the same span. During Tuesday’s Game 1, Cleveland scored just six points during the seven non-garbage time minutes it played Tuesday without Mitchell on the court. And if the Cavs want to remain competitive in this series — and by association, remain a consideration for Mitchell’s future — those trends have to change fast.
Cleveland entered this season with a legitimate chance to sign Mitchell, who has a player option after the 2024-25 season, long term. No, he never chose the Cavs as a preferred destination during his exit from Utah. And no, Cleveland doesn’t offer the same inherent advantages as cities like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. But the Cavs could trump those factors with a pitch based around his top priority: Winning.
Mitchell answered
questions about his contract this offseason with answers about winning championships, and I believe those sentiments are sincere. Contender status is the best perk any team can pitch if Mitchell becomes available, and the Cavs are the only team vying for Mitchell’s services with the chance to make their case in person.
It started with Cleveland’s Round 1 win over the Magic, which represented progress for a franchise that looked unprepared for the playoff stage last spring. But Mitchell cares more about the Boston slide of the Cavs’ presentation. If Cleveland can beat the top-seeded Celtics in this series, that bullet point trumps any theoretical selling point that big market teams can push. From movie opportunities to marketing dollars, there is no substitute for beating the Eastern Conference’s best team.
If Cleveland can’t beat Boston, however, then context is key. How the Cavs lose matters. And if they lose like they did in Game 1, with Mitchell looking like a one-man offense, movies and marketing dollars hold more weight. Hypothetical teammates look more enticing than the ones who can’t help Mitchell beat Boston. And Cleveland loses ground in the race to earn Mitchell’s signature.
Ahead of Game 2, the pen belongs to Darius Garland, who has scored fewer than 15 points in five of eight playoff games this postseason. It belongs to Evan Mobley, whose
offensive development deserves patience in a vacuum but demands quicker results in a world where Mitchell has Cleveland on the clock. And it belongs to players like Max Strus, Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert, who combined for 20 points on 8 for 25 shooting in 90 combined Game 1 minutes.
Want Mitchell to sign an extension? Make more open 3-pointers. Make him notice the work Mobley has been investing in his jump shot and postgame over the last few summers. Make him see the difference between Garland, who scored 14 points on 15 shots in Game 1, and Celtics reserve Payton Pritchard, who scored 16 points on 12 shots in Game 1.
In other words, make Mitchell take the pen. Because if the Cavs leave his decision open-ended, their superstar’s mind might wander. The weather is always nice in Miami and Los Angeles. The spotlight is bigger in New York. And there are plenty of nice NBA cities in which to create empty highlight reels.
If Cleveland wants to keep watching Mitchell play, his teammates need to help him win, which sounds a lot like saying the weather was nice on Wednesday afternoon.
Duh.
