CLEVELAND, Ohio — Inside a quiet locker room at Boston’s TD Garden last spring, as other players were still trying to process a promising season reaching its expiration, injured Cavs star Donovan Mitchell pulled youngster Evan Mobley aside.
Mitchell wanted to deliver one final message before heading into an uncertain summer.
This is who you are. This is who you need to be.
About an hour earlier, Mobley was putting the finishing touches on one of his best, most complete games as a pro.
On the parquet dotted with stars and future Hall of Famers, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Mobley tallied a game-high 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in 43 minutes of two-way dominance. Mitchell — and other members of the Cavaliers organization — have boasted about Mobley’s unique skill set for years. But May 15 was an eye-opening glimpse into the future.
For Mobley. For Mitchell. For Cleveland.
Mitchell spent the next few weeks pondering his next step, just as he does every offseason. Despite plenty of conjecture otherwise, he wasn’t thinking about where he would go, already mentally agreeing to an extension with the Cavaliers months earlier. It was about how to help Cleveland get there.
Ultimately, Mitchell decided an organizational leap required sacrifice. He needed to take a step back so others could step forward. Mobley specifically.
“I want to win so bad and there’s a reason why I signed back,” Mitchell told cleveland.com recently. “I saw it, and I see it on a daily basis, with Evan’s potential. It’s like why not put yourself in that position to play with a guy I believe is going to be a top-five player in this league? We know what J.A. (Jarrett Allen), myself and D.G. (Darius Garland) can do. We have been All-Stars. But Ev’s the guy we haven’t even scratched the surface with. It’s about empowering him and giving him the confidence.”
When Mitchell first met with Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson inside the Four Seasons Westlake Village just outside of Los Angeles in late June — a meeting in which Atkinson used salt and pepper to depict where each player would be on the floor — the two started brainstorming the best usage for Mobley.
At the elbow or on the low block? Dunker spot or spaced out to the perimeter? Pick-and-roll ball-handler or screen-setter?
Months later, Atkinson, with the help of lead assistant Johnnie Bryant, came back with a more detailed Mobley-centric plan that went well beyond sets and play calls. Atkinson wanted to stagger Mitchell’s and Mobley’s minutes, pulling both about midway through the first quarter and keeping them together nearly the entire game.
During Mitchell’s Utah days, he formed a lethal on-court pick-and-roll partnership with Rudy Gobert. Upon arriving in Cleveland, Allen become Mitchell’s primary pick-and-roll partner. Playing alongside a big like Mobley was new terrain. Uncomfortable at first, the Cavs — and Mitchell — are seeing the rewards of it.
Mitchell-Mobley is Cleveland’s second-most used tandem. In 873 minutes together, the Cavs have a net rating of 13.7. To put that in perspective, it’s higher than Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic in Dallas, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic for the Nuggets, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, San Antonio’s Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama and just slightly lower than Oklahoma City’s dynamic guard duo — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
In all, Mitchell has played just 192 total minutes without Mobley this season while Mobley logs just under four minutes per night without Mitchell. The two even conduct their pregame workout at the same time. And when the early-season rankings came out listing the league’s best power forwards, Mitchell made sure to bring that to Mobley’s attention, believing the phenom was too low.
All of it is calculated.
“When I signed back here my first intention was we need to get the most out of Ev,” Mitchell said. “Never played with a guy like Ev. So, how do we get the most out of that partnership? Saw it in that Boston series. He has the talent. It was more about him believing it on a nightly basis. I want him to think, ‘I’m that dude.’ Now you surround him with a guy like myself and it makes it tough on any defense. Just being on the floor with him allows him to kind of play a certain way. It’s allowed myself to grow too.”
Mitchell is one of the league’s best players — a five-time All-Star with a max contract, countless individual accolades and yearly MVP buzz.
So, why was he so willing to make that adjustment for a mostly unproven youngster — and roster that didn’t seem ready last spring?
“That was my growth,” Mitchell admitted. “When people ask, ‘What is the next level? What do you work on?’ This is what it takes. You don’t know what is going to come of that. It’s when you really have to sit down and ask yourself, ‘What do you want? Do you really want to win? How badly do you want to win?’ When I say these things, I’m still going to be myself but understanding when to pick the spots and being smart about it.
“It’s not easy. But it’s what’s needed. Everyone knows me as a scorer, but with this group it doesn’t have to be 30 every night. My job as a leader is to figure out where I impact the game that night. How do I make winning plays? It’s about being able to embrace that, understand that and be OK with that — and I am.”
This isn’t a one-man show. Mitchell no longer has to do everything for the Cavs to succeed.
He is averaging 23.3 points, the lowest since his rookie season in 2017-18. His field goal attempts are down, and his usage rate is below 30 for the first time since that same year. He has never been under 32 minutes per game — until this season. He is second on the team in touches, sandwiched between Garland and Mobley — the two players he has purposely tried to elevate.
“Whatever it takes to win at a high level, that’s pretty much the role that is necessary for me. Have to be able to delegate and allow guys to grow. Use this regular season as that. Because when the playoffs come, you know what time it is, and what is an opponent going to do when guys are comfortable in this role because they have been doing it and they have been used this way and they are empowered throughout the regular season?”
Cleveland’s diversity and unpredictability has helped the offense rise to the top of the NBA. The Cavs rank first in efficiency, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage while also being third in 3-point makes and fifth in assists. It’s everything they have wanted and discussed since training camp — a high-speed, quick-passing, cut-heavy system that involves everyone and generates a high volume of 3s.
Last year, Mitchell — who played nearly 60% of Cleveland’s possessions at point guard because of injuries to Garland and Ty Jerome — missed too much time to qualify for end-of-season awards. He dragged that achy knee through the first round of the playoffs before missing the final two games against Boston.
The big-picture plan has been to keep him fresher and alleviate his nightly playmaking responsibilities.
“It preserves you,” Mitchell said. “It allows you to be freer. Physically. Mentally. It’s having the trust in the guys that I’m not playing as much and we’re still able to push and get better. I think it’s been great.”
The Cavs are a league-best 31-4, riding a 10-game winning streak and on pace with the Golden State Warriors, who set the hallowed mark in 2015-16 with 73 victories. Cleveland ranks second in net rating and point differential and has already accomplished things that put it in the company of some of the league’s best teams of all-time — even though players and coaches continue to downplay these regular-season accomplishments, pointing to the playoffs as the proving ground.
Six players are averaging double figures in scoring. Only five times has a player been the team’s leading scorer — or tied for the team lead — on back-to-back nights. Mitchell, alone, did that 14 times in 2023-24 — often out of necessity. Mobley and Garland may be All-Stars. Allen has been an unsung hero. Cleveland’s bench has become a strength. The offense is prolific.
It all adds up to the Cavs being a legitimate title contender. None of it happens without Mitchell’s willingness to do less.
“Donovan is so selfless and he empowers people. (Steph Curry) is like this, too,” Atkinson said, referencing his time as an assistant with Curry’s Warriors before taking the Cleveland job. “They’re so positive and they know how to uplift others around them.
“That’s the ultimate leader, right?”
