Cleveland find themselves without two of their key starters in Darius Garland (jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee) likely until February and naturally, the microscope will focus on four-time All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell – whose long-term future with the franchise isn’t certain. How will they fare?
Mitchell the man as injury-hit Cavs must adapt
- All-Star point guard Darius Garland expected to miss at least a month with fractured jaw, while third-year starting big man Evan Mobley undergoing knee surgery that will keep him sidelined for roughly 6-8 weeks
- Donovan Mitchell honest in his assessment of injury blow: “You hate to see it with two guys who continuously put the work in to get better, but no-one’s going to care outside of this locker room. If anything, teams are going to come at us even more, that’s what brings us together… we have to hold it down for these two – they’re our rocks, part of what we built.”
- Jarrett Allen had 25 points and 14 rebounds, Mitchell added 22 and a career-high 13 assists in their 127-119 win over Atlanta. Houston await on Monday, before Utah and New Orleans end a four-game home stint
- Dean Wade, Allen echo the 27-year-old’s sentiment with next-man up mentality: “We just came together, when adversity hits us, we get closer… still got a lot of weapons, talent in this room. We can still get the job done.”
Cleveland Cavaliers’ All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell began his new role as defacto point guard with Darius Garland sidelined by reeling off a new career-high 13 assists during their Atlanta Hawks victory this past weekend, but don’t ask him any questions surrounding his long-term future, as The Athletic’s Joe Vardon found out.
“My job is to focus on this, we have two guys out, so I’m not answering anything and no disrespect. I appreciate you have to ask, but I’m not going there. My focus is on these guys being out, us trying to find a way to get wins.”
After this season, Mitchell will have two years left on his five-year, $163m deal signed with the Utah Jazz – which began in 2021-22. The 2025-26 campaign has a player option, meaning he may opt out and move elsewhere should things not improve.
The shooting guard accepted he has to pick up the slack now his backcourt partner is sidelined until mid-January at the earliest, but brushed off suggestions the pair are battling one another to have the best stats on a team many feel are a piece or two short of true title contention. This injury news only compounds that problem.
Per game averages
Garland: 20.7 points, 5.9 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 47 FG% in 20 games
Mobley: 16 PPG, 10.5 rebs, 2.9 ast, 1.7 blocks, 57.3 FG% in 21 games
“We came here and made this for us to be together, it’s definitely not me versus him, that’s my brother, my dog… the only way we make this push is as a group. I can’t do everything, it doesn’t happen with just one of us.”
Max Strus attracted interest from plenty and represented a shrewd pickup over the summer from Miami in a three-team trade, having spent three seasons in south Florida under highly-regarded head coach Erik Spoelstra’s guidance.
Having started all 26 contests this term, Mitchell’s agemate is averaging career-highs in points (13.6), rebounds (5.5), assists (3.8) and taking more shot attempts too. A small forward by trade, he’s now alongside Donovan to make up for Garland’s injury.
After a respectable first year in 2020-21, questions are rightly still being asked about Isaac Okoro’s upside as the small forward-shooting guard remains inconsistent despite flashing potential to be a reliable starter on a strong team.
He posted 18 points, including a trio of made threes on efficient shooting splits against Atlanta but had scored just 20 in the four previous games before that win.
Caris LeVert was among the league’s 20-point-a-game scorers in 2020-21 and shot the ball well with Brooklyn, then Indiana before again being traded last February.
If it’s not broken, don’t try fixing it, so in the sixth man role he’ll continue producing. As for Allen, he needs to be more aggressive offensively on a nightly basis while they’ll want Okoro to emulate the Year 5 leap taken by Chicago’s Coby White.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes hyperlinked or via Chris Fedor
Mo and Sports 