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With a $37.1 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Donovan Mitchell could be just one year away from hitting the open market. Based on the latest buzz, that could be bad news for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who might need a deep playoff push to convince him to stick around.
“The buzz in NBA circles suggests that barring a run to the NBA Finals, Mitchell will decline an extension and look elsewhere, and the Cavaliers are more likely than not to move him well before he can leave outright as a free agent,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, who also noted Mitchell is “all but certain” to decline that player option.
The Brooklyn Nets are building around Mikal Bridges, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, which means two things. This roster has to significantly improve, and that improvement needs to happen fast, since the 27-year-old swingman (28 this August) is presumably in the heart of his prime.
Mitchell, a New York native, could serve as the offensive focal point Brooklyn badly needs. Bridges wears a bunch of different hats on the NBA hardwood, but he’s not a go-to scorer. For that matter, neither is Cam Thomas, a streaky shooter with a forgettable assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9 against 1.9 per outing).
Getting Mitchell to Brooklyn—likely at the expense of Thomas, multiple firsts and whichever salary-fillers Cleveland would take—could give the Nets direction and a potential path up the Eastern Conference standings.
A healthy Mitchell is a wrecking ball on offense. A Bridges who doesn’t have to run himself ragged on offense is elite on defense. That’s a talented twosome to build around, and Brooklyn could still have the likes of Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton (who needs a new deal) in the supporting cast.
That probably isn’t a contender without a few more pieces added to the puzzle, but it could be a second-tier team in the East. And if this season has taught us anything, it’s that the conference’s top tier could be shallower than you think.
As for Cleveland, if it can’t get a long-term commitment from Mitchell, then it has no choice but to gauge offers for him at the very least. The Cavs paid a fortune to get him in Sept. 2022, so they can’t afford to risk him leaving for nothing next summer.
And if they build back up their asset collection, they wouldn’t have to be down for long, if at all. Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley still comprise an interesting core, and none is over the age of 25.
Find a difference-maker or two on the perimeter, and Cleveland could be back in business or even better built for long-term success.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on X, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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