Two major trades by Cleveland teams in 2022 sent the franchises on opposite trajectories.
The Browns gave the Houston Texans six draft picks (including three in the first round) in exchange for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who agreed to a five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract in Cleveland. Watson has played only 19 games in three seasons, due to a suspension and two season-ending injuries. The team, which is 2-8 on the season, owes him $92 million over the next two years.
"The Cavs made almost a similar deal, but not nearly as risky,” Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto said. “They traded for Donovan Mitchell, a star in his prime. Of course, Mitchell came with no baggage, that was the main thing.”
The Cavaliers sent Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, two first-round draft picks to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Mitchell.
Pluto said Mitchell made an immediate impact on the team that was already starting to find its footing.
”This is a remarkable turnaround from where they were in the summer of 2018 when LeBron James left," Pluto said. "We've watched that before. When LeBron leaves, the team goes down into the depths of young players losing, hoping to get lucky in the NBA lottery and that."
The Cavs, last season, made it to the second round of the playoffs and have been on a historic run to start this season.
In 2019, Cavs General Manager Koby Altman began building the young core of players in Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
“(Altman) was hitting on all his moves, and then the big swing, I would argue is a home run, was bringing Donovan Mitchell in," Pluto said. "They thought (Mitchell) had the potential to be the second best player in the history of the franchise after LeBron James. Did they say that publicly? No. But that was in the back of their mind.”
Pluto said NBA teams find the most success by finding their star.
“One player in basketball can make more of an impact than one player in any other of the sports except your individual sports,” Pluto said.
Donovan Mitchell embraced Cleveland, something stars haven't always done.
“Even though actually he would have preferred to have been traded to New York, his hometown," Pluto said. "But Donovan Mitchell, being around him, I say he's one of these guys; He was raised the right way. ‘I'm going to make the most of what I got.’”
The big shift happened when Mitchell signed a three-year, $150.3 million contract extension this past July.
“He said, ‘You know what? This team can win for the next several years,”' Pluto said.
Pluto also said it helped that Mitchell previously played in a small market in Utah.
“You don't have to have the bright lights for everything," Pluto said. "Because he said, ‘I'm comfortable in this market,’” Pluto said.
Pluto said the ripple effect on the team was like when Guardians star third baseman José Ramirez signed a contract extension in 2022.
“Donovan is the Cavs’ version of a José Ramirez," Pluto said. "Now, José was homegrown. They traded for Donovan, but a guy that -- he chose Cleveland…and it's just been so much fun because I think the team then just circled around that.”
Pluto also said the team was able to work through concerns that Mitchell and Garland didn’t work well together on-court because their styles were too much alike.
“Maybe we go back and look at that and I have, because I was one of those that had major doubts about it," Pluto said. "Perhaps it was, Darius Garland was the one that had major injuries last year. But the other aspect is Donovan Mitchell wants it to work with Darius Garland. He likes Garland. But here's your key. If Donovan Mitchell doesn't go along with any of this stuff, it doesn't happen. But he embraced it fully.”
Another aspect, Pluto said, is that Mitchell consistently shows poise.
“From the moment he got here, I can't think of a single misstep he made in terms of things he said press conferences or any of that stuff," Pluto said. "They believed Donovan's main goal wasn't just to play in New York no matter what, it was to play on a team that can compete for a title. And they thought they could sell him on that in Cleveland and they did. And I really believe they even got more than they thought. The trade worked in every single way.”
