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Marcus Morris: I'd Be 'Surprised' If Donovan Mitchell Left Cavs amid Trade Rumors
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Cleveland Cavaliers veteran forward Marcus Morris doesn’t believe that teammate Donovan Mitchell will leave the team amid a host of trade rumors.
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.<a href=”https://twitter.com/MookMorris2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MookMorris2</a> on Donovan Mitchell’s future in Cleveland.<br><br>”I think Cleveland is a great place for [Donovan Mitchell]…I would be highly surprised if he left.” <a href=”https://t.co/g4usEi44VE”>pic.twitter.com/g4usEi44VE</a>
Mitchell can sign a four-year, $200 million extension this summer. Right now, he’s due $35.4 million in 2024-25 and can become a free agent afterward by declining his 2025-26 player option.
It would behoove the Cavs to sign Mitchell, of course. The 27-year-old and five-time All-Star guard averaged 26.6 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game for a Cavs team that reached the second round of the playoffs.
“I will say this. In three weeks, the Cavs are going to meet with Donovan Mitchell. In that meeting there’s probably going to be three things that are on the agenda. One, they’re going to offer him a $200 million extension. Very kindly, with a lot of smiles and hope. Two, you’d like to think that the new head coach would be hired by that time and would have for him an idea of how he wants to play. How it would affect him and how it would affect the other players.”
Of course, the Cavs also need to find a new head coach after firing J.B. Bickerstaff, and one can surmise that the new coach could have an impact on Mitchell’s decision.
Ultimately, the Cavs’ future is a big question mark with Mitchell’s future with the team up in the air. But this team is clearly better with him than without as the Cavs find themselves as perennial playoff contenders in the post-LeBron James era.