A Monday report revealed that people around the NBA are “afraid” that free-agent superstar LeBron James will eventually sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a third stint with that organization.
Cleveland fans who are hoping that James spends the final season(s) of his legendary career with the Cavaliers received some good news on Tuesday morning.
Donovan Mitchell does the Cavaliers a solid
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania shared that the Cavaliers and star Donovan Mitchell have agreed to a four-year, $273M maximum contract extension that includes a player option for the 2030-31 campaign and a full trade kicker. Previously, Daryl Ruiter of Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan was among those who thought Mitchell could want the supermax contract.
Per Charania, Mitchell could have waited until next summer and then looked to ink a five-year, $353M deal. On Tuesday morning, Joe Vardon of The Athletic noted that Mitchell signing his new extension “will not impact the salary cap for this coming season, so it wouldn’t impact Cleveland’s attempt to sign” James. Vardon also said that “James was Mitchell’s favorite player as a teenager growing up outside of New York City.”
How Donovan Mitchell reportedly feels about the Cavaliers potentially re-signing LeBron James
James is without question the single biggest figure in Cavaliers franchise history, as the Akron native famously guided the club to an NBA title in the spring of 2016. That said, some understandably may wonder how Mitchell and James would co-exist on the same team in a scenario that would involve Mitchell being more of the current face of the organization instead of James.
According to Charania, sources say that Mitchell “would embrace the Cavaliers reuniting with LeBron James if James makes the decision to sign with Cleveland.” Charania also mentioned that “Mitchell has played a significant part in the Cavaliers’ efforts to improve the roster in recent years,” which could lead one to believe that he will also sign off on any deals that would be deemed necessary as it pertains to having James with the club.
Most recently, Mitchell and the Cavaliers were swept by the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals. That defeat clearly didn’t prevent Mitchell from wanting to remain with the Cavs for the foreseeable future.
