<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-defends-cleveland-after-sophie-cunningham-jab');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donovan Mitchell defends Cleveland after Sophie Cunningham jab');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Donovan-Mitchell_51380a.jpg"><figcaption>David Richard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Donovan Mitchell defends Cleveland after Sophie Cunningham jab</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-01T14:46:57-07:00">July 1st, 2:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-01T14:46:57-07:00">July 1st, 2:46pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints and Cavs Nation in October 2023. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cavs News</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-rumors-ty-jerome-likely-gone-after-lonzo-ball-trade-sam-merrill-contract">rumors surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers</a> in the NBA, there is some talk about a team in the city in regards to the ever-growing WNBA. Despite a <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-couldnt-shake-crushing-playoff-exit">crushing playoff exit for Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers</a>, the team had enormous success, which only a WNBA team could continue to grow the city, though there could be some argument from a certain star in the women’s league.</p><p>Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham would be asked about the WNBA’s announcement to expand to 18 teams, which includes cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cleveland. Cunningham would question players wanting to go to the city, as the star in Mitchell <a href="https://x.com/spidadmitchell/status/1940134375229673884" rel="noopener">would respond on social media</a>, hyping up Cleveland.</p><p>“Cleveland in the summertime,” Mitchell wrote with two fire emojis after on X, formerly Twitter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cleveland in the summertime 🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/0SxAeH56XV">https://t.co/0SxAeH56XV</a></p><p>— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) <a href="https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1940134375229673884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Mitchell has been with Cleveland since 2022 and has expressed his love for the team and city, so seeing him respond shouldn’t come as a surprise.</p><h2><b>Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell defends the city </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Mitchell-and-Garland.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With athletes like<a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-real-lebron-james-comparisons"> Mitchell and LeBron James highlighting the Cavaliers</a>‘ basketball history, Cleveland is sure to be a city that could house a women’s basketball team and be successful. However, Cunningham would question it and say, <a href="https://x.com/YahooSports/status/1940087101891961053" rel="noopener">“I don’t know how excited people are to be going”</a> to Cleveland, even mentioning Detroit there as well.</p><p>“Like, where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I think Miami would have been a great one. Everyone loves Florida,” Cunningham said. “Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City — amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown that no one’s using,” Cunningham added Tuesday afternoon. “I’m not so sure what the thought process is there.</p><p>“At the end of the day, you don’t want to expand our league too fast,” Cunningham continued. “We don’t want teams to totally dominate, and some that aren’t. It’s a hard situation, but, man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Fever star Sophie Cunningham on the WNBA expanding to multiple new cities over the next few years:</p><p>“I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]” <a href="https://t.co/pncwYpMar3">pic.twitter.com/pncwYpMar3</a></p><p>— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/1940087101891961053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>At any rate, Cleveland will be getting a WNBA team, starting play in 2028.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donovan Mitchell defends Cleveland after Sophie Cunningham jab

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-real-lebron-james-comparisons');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donovan Mitchell gets real on LeBron James Cavs comparisons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-Donovan-Mitchell-Lakers-LeBron-James.jpg"><figcaption>David Richard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Donovan Mitchell gets real on LeBron James Cavs comparisons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-28T14:14:20-07:00">June 28th, 2:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-28T14:15:32-07:00">June 28th, 2:15pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints and Cavs Nation, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cavs News</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cleveland Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell addressed leading a new era of the franchise with All-Stars Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and a supporting cast of players in comparison to the LeBron James and Kyrie Irving-led 2016 team. After <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-couldnt-shake-crushing-playoff-exit">Mitchell endured the Cavs’ disappointing playoff run</a>, he reflected on Cleveland’s epic 2024-25 campaign, the disappointment that followed, and how the team is different from James and Irving’s.</p><p>Mitchell explained how the current Cavs team <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLoqDIJHlyN3NMVAOmtVV0p4iGcVaOlm6a&amp;t=2455&amp;v=l5ftvyXI5_4&amp;feature=youtu.be" rel="noopener">does things differently</a> in comparison to one James and Irving led to the franchise’s first championship.</p><p>“We’re not the LeBron James, Kyrie Irving Cavaliers. We do it differently. We do it with Evan, we do it with myself, we do it with DG, we do it with Max, we do it with Jay, all the guys on the roster, and it’s just different,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s something that people talk about, it’s something that I think is great for the city, by all means. And obviously we have a picture of the parade and we want to put understanding that hey, like you know, we want to do it our own way while still having respect for what was done for the city.”</p><p>Because the 2016 Cavs was the first and only team to secure an NBA title, Mitchell understands why fans like to compare the two teams, but is adamant in his opinion on how the two eras differ from one another.</p><p>“There’s always that comparison, and there’s always going to be that comparison because there is only one other time, but I think we’re all comfortable. I’m comfortable to be like, hey that’s not us,” Mitchell added. “That was that team, and we are different.”</p><h2><b>Donovan Mitchell couldn’t shake Cavs’ early playoff exit</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-Donovan-Mitchell-Pacers-Tyrese-Haliburton.jpg"><figcaption>Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After leading the Eastern Conference with 64 regular-season wins, including a 15 and franchise record 16-game win streak, Cavs All-Star <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-drops-truth-bomb-recent-wave-nba-injuries">Donovan Mitchell was devastated to lose to the Pacers</a> admist injuries. Mitchell explained how a deep run toward the NBA Finals felt like a foregone conclusion.</p><p>“In my mind, it was like this is supposed to [happen]. Everybody says, like you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans, and that was my plan,” Mitchell said. “Like, alright, cool, 60 games, we’re on these win streaks, alright, cool. I’m not saying we took anything for granted at all by any means, but this felt like this was that time.”</p><p>The Cavs are the odds-on favortie to win the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donovan Mitchell gets real on LeBron James Cavs comparisons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-drops-truth-bomb-recent-wave-nba-injuries');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell drops truth bomb on recent wave of NBA injuries');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-All-Star-Donovan-Mitchell-i.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell drops truth bomb on recent wave of NBA injuries</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-28T12:03:04-07:00">June 28th, 12:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-28T12:03:04-07:00">June 28th, 12:03pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints and Cavs Nation, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cavs News</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cavs All-Star <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-couldnt-shake-crushing-playoff-exit">Donovan Mitchell shared his honest feelings over losing</a> to the Indiana Pacers, 4-1, in the second round of the playoffs. For Mitchell, a deep playoff run was imminent after a historic regular season. However, injuries to All-Stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley hindered a promising campaign. Then, Mitchell suffered a left ankle sprain during Game 4 against the Pacers.</p><p>Mitchell <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5ftvyXI5_4&amp;t=569s" rel="noopener">shared his mindset</a> heading into Game 5, per Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks X.</p><p>“You do everything for the season. I’m not in my brain, there’s no way I’m letting this hinder or affect me from not stepping out on the floor,” Mitchell said. “I take what comes with it. I’m very thankful that nothing came out of that. But that’s kind of my process, like you’re going to have to drag me off the floor. Does it change a little bit after seeing these things happen?</p><p>“Maybe, possibly, I think it’s hard for me to say that because I may be in a moment, I may be fighting the doctors and team doctors to get out there, but I think right now, seeing that it’s tough,” Mitchell concluded.</p><p>After watching Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton play through a calf injury in Game 6 before suffering an Achilles’ injury, Mitchell pointed to that as an example of a player’s determination to play through the pain. Like he did, trying to keep the Cavs’ season alive in Game 5.</p><p>“Tyrese made it to Game 7 of the Finals,” Mitchell said. “I think you ask any guy in the league, Jamal [Murray] played last year through a calf strain, there’s guys that have done it. I don’t think he regrets doing that.”</p><p>Mitchell finished with 35 points, nine rebounds, and four steals in Game 5’s 114-105 loss to the Pacers.</p><h2><b>Donovan Mitchell couldn’t shake off Cavs’ playoff exit</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-All-Star-Donovan-Mitchell-ii.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-rumors-cleveland-doesnt-plan-to-blow-up-roster-despite-playoff-flameout">Cavs won’t be making drastic changes to their</a> All-Star trio — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley. However, the disappointing finish still stings. Mitchell reflected on how he dealt with that pain.</p><p>“When it ended so abruptly, like even in the summer, I didn’t have any plans, I didn’t know what to do,” Mitchell said. “That’s why I think I found myself, even though I was moving around and different things, I found myself just sitting there, just trying to process that we don’t play tomorrow. I was in Cleveland for about a week after. Usually, after the season, I fly out to go back home. I just couldn’t leave because it was just like there’s no way.”</p><p>Mitchell and the Cavs will look to bounce back in 2025-26.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell drops truth bomb on recent wave of NBA injuries

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/news/cavs-news-donovan-mitchell-couldnt-shake-crushing-playoff-exit');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donovan Mitchell couldn’t shake Cavs’ crushing playoff exit');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-All-Star-Donovan-Mitchell.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Donovan Mitchell couldn’t shake Cavs’ crushing playoff exit</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-28T10:20:59-07:00">June 28th, 10:20am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-28T10:22:30-07:00">June 28th, 10:22am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints and Cavs Nation, as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cavs News</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After the Cleveland Cavs’ second-round playoff exit against the Indiana Pacers, All-Star Donovan Mitchell was so devastated over the loss that he didn’t leave the city. <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-rumors-donovan-mitchell-loves-cleveland">Mitchell remains invested in the Cavs’ success</a>. Despite losing the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Pacers 4-1, Cleveland had a thrilling regular-season run, which made accepting elimination that much harder for Donovan.</p><p>In a regular season where the Cavs started off 15-0 before a franchise-record 16-game win streak from February to March, Mitchell had the highest hopes for the Cavs’ playoff run, culminating in an opportunity to compete for an NBA championship. Cleveland won 64 games, sitting atop the Eastern Conference throughout the regular season. Mitchell <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5ftvyXI5_4&amp;t=569s" rel="noopener">admitted he had a hard time</a> accepting his team’s fate, per Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks X.</p><p>“In my mind, it was like this is supposed to [happen]. Everybody says, like you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans, and that was my plan,” Mitchell said. “Like, alright, cool, 60 games, we’re on these win streaks, alright, cool. I’m not saying we took anything for granted at all by any means, but this felt like this was that time. I think everybody can agree with that.”</p><p>But with key Cavs players missing games against the Pacers, including Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Hunter, Cleveland lost its second-round series in five games.</p><p>“I think that’s why when it ended so abruptly, like even in the summer I didn’t have any plans, I didn’t know what to do,” Mitchell added. “That’s why I think I found myself, even though I was moving around and different things, I found myself just sitting there, just trying to process that we don’t play tomorrow. I was in Cleveland for about a week after. Usually, after the season, I fly out to go back home. I just couldn’t leave because it was just like there’s no way.”</p><h2><b>Cavs reportedly not planning to blow up roster</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.cavsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cavs-All-Star-Donovan-Mitchell2.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Despite their recent trade with the Bulls for Lonzo Ball, the <a href="https://cavsnation.com/news/cavs-rumors-cleveland-doesnt-plan-to-blow-up-roster-despite-playoff-flameout">Cavs front office isn’t blowing up its core</a>. After three players — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley — represented the Cavs in last year’s All-Star game, head coach Kenny Atkinson will run it back in hopes of making a deep playoff run.</p><p>Barring key injuries, the Cavs are talented enough to reach the NBA Finals. With devastating injuries plaguing the 2024 champion Celtics and the Pacers, following their Game 7 finals loss to the champion Thunder, 2025-26 could be the Cavs’ turn to compete for a title.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donovan Mitchell couldn’t shake Cavs’ crushing playoff exit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/utah-jazz/jazz-news-jeff-teague-drops-donovan-mitchell-advice-ace-bailey-playing-jazz');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jeff Teague drops Donovan Mitchell advice for Ace Bailey on playing for Jazz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Bailey-drafted-by-Jazz.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h1>Jeff Teague drops Donovan Mitchell advice for Ace Bailey on playing for Jazz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-26T12:41:41-07:00">June 26th, 12:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-26T12:52:26-07:00">June 26th, 12:52pm</time><address><a>Rishav Bhat</a>Rishav is a seasoned NBA and sports journalist and editor with over seven years of experience working for reputed organizations. A novelist first and foremost, he has written three fiction books. His high threshold of knowledge combined with his writing skills gives him the ability to write uniquely insightful pieces across basketball, soccer, cricket, lawn tennis, eSports, and a variety of other sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Utah Jazz stunned a fair number of people on Wednesday by selecting Ace Bailey as the fifth overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. The Rutgers star, despite being a consensus five-star recruit, has come under huge controversy <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/2025-nba-mock-draft-5-0-76ers-hornets-ace-bailey-destiny-latest-intel">after Bailey refused to work out or meet with any NBA team</a> in the buildup to the draft.</p><p>Nobody had seriously doubted his potential, and that seems to include the Jazz as well. However, Bailey was seemingly <a href="https://www.espn.in/nba/story/_/id/45586394/jazz-ace-bailey-preferred-landing-spots" rel="noopener">moved to tears</a> after Utah selected him, even claiming that he didn’t have any idea they wanted to select him, per ESPN.</p><p>Now, former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague <a href="https://youtu.be/u-3cV4MhMNE?t=1136" rel="noopener">has dropped a stellar piece of advice</a> for the 18-year-old. Bailey had named the likes of the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans and the Brooklyn Nets as his preferred landing spots, teams on which he believed he could immediately be the main star.</p><p>“When you make it to the NBA, the biggest thing is they have banks in every city. So you’re going to be able to go to the bank. You’re going to get to have fun. </p><p>“You’re not there that long; you’re there for six or seven months at most; you’re going to go home. You’ll be back in Atlanta or Miami very soon. Go ahead and get your game right, hoop, play, and it’s probably the best for you bro,” Teague said on Club 520 podcast.</p><h2><b>Jeff Teague compares Ace Bailey to former Jazz player Donovan Mitchell</b></h2><p>Teague then took up the example of Donovan Mitchell, who spent five seasons in Utah before moving to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The former Hawks guard believes that Bailey has everything he needs to emulate what Mitchell did.</p><p>“Do what Donovan Mitchell did. He had it lit in Utah. They were going to the playoffs. They were winning; nobody cared. He had his own shoe; he got his own s—t in Utah; then he left,” he said.</p><p>Behind the scenes, Bailey was seemingly inconsolable as he people in his team offered him their support. His decision to not train or meet any NBA team pre-draft appeared to be an attempt to get to one of his preferred destinations.</p><p>While the Wizards, Pelicans and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/sources-nets-eyeing-draft-trade-76ers-hornets-ace-bailey-buzz">the Nets had the</a> sixth, seventh, and the eighth picks in the NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers reportedly were considering Bailey with their third overall pick. However, Philadelphia selected VJ Edgecombe, and the Jazz’s decision to pick Bailey seemingly left him stunned. </p><p>The star guard averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game for  Rutgers as a freshman this past season, which proved enough for Utah to take him despite his antics in the buildup to the draft. </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jeff Teague drops Donovan Mitchell advice for Ace Bailey on playing for Jazz

Ja Morant

Draymond Green

Jimmy Butler III

Trae Young

Donovan Mitchell

D'Angelo Russell

Jayson Tatum

Jeremy Lin

Joel Embiid

Devin Booker

1x All Star

3x All Star

2022-23 All-NBA

2017-18 All-Rookie

2x All Star

4x All Star

5x All Star

6x All Star

2x All-NBA

Utah Jazz

Cleveland Cavaliers

Career

3 seasons

5 seasons

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1651316991850868738/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1649529486923255809/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1648424796584280065/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1647307292805591041/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1643342775734157314/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1642634734424453120/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1640818024348372992/

https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1640059568054054914/

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.0	4.5	5.0	0.2	1.3

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.0	4.5	5.0	0.2	1.3

Donovan
Mitchell

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