Q&A: Donovan Mitchell on Cavaliers' rise and Kia MVP race

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If it’s possible for Donovan Mitchell to top what he did for five robust seasons in Utah, then it’s currently in the making in Cleveland.

Now in his second season with the Cavs, Mitchell, 27, is the core of a team that’s semi-surprisingly making a serious run toward the top in the East. In the process, Mitchell has inserted himself in the conversation for Kia MVP finalist.

The Cavs endured injury-interrupted stretches by two of their best players, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, yet that didn’t manage to constrain them. That’s mostly because of Mitchell and his All-NBA abilities.

He’s currently averaging a career-high 28.4 points on an efficient 47.3% shooting, along with 5.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists. His defense has been solid as well. This is more of the same as he did with the Jazz.

There are two crucial issues facing the five-time All-Star: Can he take the Cavs deep into the playoffs (they lost in the first round last season)? Also, will “Spida” have an extended future in Cleveland?

Always affable, approachable and friendly, he touched on that and more in a recent Q-and-A with NBA.com.

The following 1-on-1 conversation has been condensed and edited.

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NBA.com: The Cavs are one of the league’s success stories, currently sitting in second place in the East and more impressively thriving despite losing Darius Garland and Evan Mobley for a combined 47 games with injuries. How’d that happen?

Mitchell: It was about us stepping up collectively and doing things as a group, especially the guys that nobody outside our team knew much about. Well, we knew what they were about. And it showed on a nightly basis. We never adopted a feel-sorry-for-yourself mentality with those two very important players out. We were next-man-up.

You might be understating your own performance during that time.

Well, I always take it upon myself to be the best player I can be, no matter the circumstances. I really don’t think I was all that different as a player, in terms of that mentality. I had some good moments, and I do think I’m one of the better players in this game.

An MVP contender?

Sure. Why not?

While we’re on the subject of great players, who’s the best in the game right now?

Probably Joker (Nikola Jokic). We get bored with the level of greatness. You’ve seen it in the past, you see it with LeBron (James), he’s just consistent. He should’ve won (MVP) more, but maybe he didn’t because we’re all trying to find out who’s next all the time.

Joel (Embiid), with what he was doing when he got hurt, he’s right there. So I think it’s between those two (Jokic and Embiid) and what they were able to do this year.

You’re not designated as a point guard yet you play like one, with the ball in your hands more than we typically see with 2-guards. Does that come naturally?

It’s just me being to be able to be a floor general. We throw the word `point guard’ around … there are different ways you can be a scoring point guard. I’m all about doing whatever the team needs. Being able to manage games, get my teammates involved and score when needed. As a kid coming out of Louisville, I didn’t know what I was, to be honest.

In that sense, you’ve developed a good rapport with teammates, especially Jarrett Allen, on the screen and roll.

Jarrett Allen has been phenomenal. He and I have a connection, an understanding. He’s worked to know when I’m going to pass him the ball. Having that chemistry has really helped us understand each other as basketball players and by extension helped the team. You see his progression offensively from when he left Brooklyn, and it’s been great.

You’ve been an All-Star and also competed in the skills challenge, the 3-point in Indiana this year and not to mention, have a dunk contest title from 2018. What was winning like?

It changed my life. I don’t think people knew who ‘Spida’ really was until the dunk contest. That changed things from a marketing standpoint, from a branding standpoint. Off the floor, my life changed. A blessing to have that.

You’re one of four players to reach the 70-point mark in a game since the start of last year. That’s unmatched in NBA history. And scoring is soaring overall. Is there too much scoring in the game?

It’s not a bad thing. There’s so much talent. I think we look at the older days, the scoring was low, but there are so many guys scoring with so many tricks and shots. That happens with the evolution of the game. We’re going to find ways.

There’s no such thing as too much offense. I do think defenders aren’t allowed to do certain things and offensive players have exploited that. It’s hard to guard a guy one-on-one in this league.

Your father was in the New York Mets’ organization right around the same time Pat Mahomes Sr. pitched for them. Did you ever run into his son, Patrick, now a three-time Super Bowl champion?

Not when I was younger. That’s crazy because we both grew up in that system, that world. None of us went to baseball. It worked out pretty well for us.

Last summer you and your coach at Louisville, Rick Pitino, who’s now coaching at St. John’s, went to a Mets game where he threw the ceremonial first pitch and you caught it. Did that go as planned?

It was low and away. He didn’t even make the plate, which was interesting because when we practiced, he was perfect. The big lights got to him a little bit.

Pitino coached in the NBA with the Celtics and Knicks. What advice did he give once you left Louisville for the NBA?

Keep the main thing the main thing. Stay focused. The distractions and stuff like that take you away from what’s really important. I didn’t come this far to come this far.

Speaking of distractions and focus, there’s so much outside noise about your future and whether it’ll remain in Cleveland. What’s your response?

I can’t control the talk. My focus has always been on this season and helping to bring a championship to Cleveland. Nothing’s changed. Said that from the start of camp.

In that sense, this season has gone well for the Cavs but another first-round exit like last year might leave a sour taste. That loss to the Knicks had to be tough, right?

Painful. Just in the way it happened last year. But it’s all about what we’ve learned from it. Now that you add that experience, we have guys that have been there, so the biggest thing is when you have a tough loss, it’s how you respond to it.

I think we’ve responded well so far. Our ball movement, our body movement is different and just the way our defense has really risen. I think you’re seeing a different Cavs team.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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