Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell says he wants to finish his career in Cleveland, telling reporters this week that he dreams of being a Cavalier forever as the team opens its 2026-27 season Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Mitchell has signed two extensions with the Cavaliers since arriving in Cleveland, most recently this past summer, when he signed a four-year, $273 million maximum deal, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Mitchell said Cleveland is home to him now.
“I don’t ever want to wear another uniform,” Mitchell told Cleveland.com, in comments reported by the Beacon Journal. “I dream of myself being here forever and hopefully having 45 in the rafters one day.” Mitchell acknowledged that the business of the league can change plans, but said the purpose behind his extension is to stay in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers enter the season coming off a conference finals appearance in May, with head coach Kenny Atkinson and members of the organization saying publicly that reaching the NBA Finals is a realistic goal this year. Mitchell said a championship is the team’s only goal, and that it is why he wakes up every morning.
Center Jarrett Allen echoed that urgency on Tuesday, October 20. “Can’t run from anything now,” Allen said. “This is our time to go and show what we’re made of. It’s now or never.”
That confidence comes despite a familiar backdrop in Cleveland: many outsiders view several other Eastern Conference teams as more viable contenders than the Cavs, even after Cleveland’s run to the conference finals in May, according to the Beacon Journal’s season preview. The preview noted that the chip on the franchise’s shoulder has only grown as a result.
Cleveland opens the regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 22, against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The 76ers’ new-look roster includes Akron native LeBron James, who chose Philadelphia in free agency in July, and Jaylen Brown, according to the Beacon Journal’s season preview.
For Mitchell and the Cavaliers, Thursday’s opener is the first test of a season framed around delivering on that Finals goal, starting on the road against one of the Eastern Conference teams many outsiders rate ahead of Cleveland.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY