Utah Jazz alum Donovan Mitchell has been good as ever for his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Averaging 30.7 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 49.4% from the field and 38.1% from three, he's carried his weight and then some. Yet the Cavaliers are 15-11 and trending downward. With no progress made in Year 4 with Mitchell, Cleveland may have to ponder if it's worth keeping Mitchell around.
Mitchell's aforementioned numbers demonstrate precisely why the Cavaliers were right to give up the package they did for him. One could imagine where they would be right now if they hadn't included Lauri Markkanen in the package and he had ascended to the star he's become with Utah, but still, Mitchell has looked as good as advertised with the Cavs.
But four years into this union, the Cavaliers have not only not seen much progress, but this is their worst start with Mitchell. They've been hurt for sure, but this is a season where plenty of teams are dealing with injuries. If anything, this was the season where the cards have been stacked in Cleveland's favor, and yet this is the worst start they've seen.
Take their most recent loss earlier today against Charlotte - a worse team than Utah currently - where it was a home game and the Hornets didn't have LaMelo Ball. Cleveland didn't have Evan Mobley or Max Strus, but that shouldn't be a problem against Charlotte. Yet they somehow lost in overtime. Those are losses that scream, as the kids say, "down bad."
If it only took five years for Mitchell to decide it was in his best interest to part ways with Utah because they weren't going anywhere, how much longer will he give Cleveland the benefit of the doubt?
If the Cavaliers don't change anything, Mitchell's departure is coming
The one conclusion the Cavaliers should draw by now is that their core isn't a title contender no matter what Mitchell does. It simply needs to be better if they want any chance to capitalize while having a star like Mitchell in his prime.
It's hard to see what exactly they can do because they are fresh out of assets thanks primarily to the Mitchell deal. They will need to re-tool the roster a bit, as they have some good players, but whether they can get an upgrade is anyone's guess.
Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen are all good, but they are not great like Mitchell is. If they continue to run it back with this squad, Mitchell will only have so much patience before he decides that he's done. If that's how it all goes down, suddenly a few Jazz assets get better.
There are only so many times you can keep the same squad before something's gotta give. If there's a team that knows first hand, ironically, it's the Utah Jazz.