Donovan Mitchell and his Cleveland Cavaliers are down 1-0 in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Boston Celtics after being blown out in Game 1.
Cleveland doesn’t necessarily stand a chance against the mighty Celtics. Despite the star guard scoring 33 points Monday evening, the Cavs still lost by the score of 120-95.
The backdrop here are continued rumors that Mitchell could be playing out his final handful of games in a Cavaliers uniform.
Mitchell, 27, has a player option worth $37 million for the 2025-26 season. He’s almost certainly to decline it, meaning that the 2024-25 campaign will end up being a contract year for the five-time All-Star.
Cleveland acquired Mitchell for a whole bounty of players and draft picks from the Utah Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 season. It has not turned into a legitimate conference title with him leading the charge. Acquiring assets rather than letting him walk for free in the summer of 2025 makes sense.
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Miami Heat linked to Donovan Mitchell trade
That leads us to the point of this article. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Miami is high on the list of teams Mitchell is interested in joining moving forward.
“The Cavaliers are still competing, but many in NBA circles believe that, barring a title, Mitchell will force his way out of Cleveland this offseason. Of all the NBA guards, Mitchell may be the closest to Heat legend and Hall-of-Famer Dwyane Wade. He will be 28 before next season (seven years younger than Jimmy Butler). He has a strong relationship with Bam Adebayo and is said (by multiple NBA insiders) to have Miami high on his list of destinations.”
Report on Donovan Mitchell
Fresh off getting run out of the NBA Playoffs by the aforementioned Celtics, a lot of rumors in South Beach are pointing to an offseason roster overhaul. Heck, it appears that Jimmy Butler’s future in Miami is up in the air based on recent comments from front office head Pat Riley.
What we do know is that it still remains likely Butler runs it back with the Heat next season. He’s the franchise cornerstone and someone who has proven he can lead the team to the NBA Finals. It’s all about getting other pieces in place. Mitchell would make sense.
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What a Donovan Mitchell trade to the Miami Heat would look like
As with everything NBA related, it comes down to compensation being worked out between interested parties and the finances making sense.
Any deal would start with Tyler Herro heading to the Cavaliers. He was just recently on the receiving end of criticism from Riley, meaning that the former NBA Sixth-Man of the Year could be on the move this summer.
From there, either Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Nikola Jovic would head to Cleveland. They are the Heat’s two most-recent first-round pics and have shown promise. The salaries would match in this scenario with Miami offering up multiple first-round picks and a pick swap to get things done.
- Miami Heat get: Donovan Mitchell
- Cleveland Cavaliers get: Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr./Nikola Jovic, 2 1st-round picks, pick swap