Central Notes: Mitchell, Okoro, J. Smith, Dosunmu

Donovan Mitchell already made up his mind to re-sign with the Cavaliers before last season ended, but he wanted to find a way to turn the team into a title contender, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The solution he came up with was to sacrifice some of his role in the offense so that other players — particularly Evan Mobley — could get more involved.

That strategy has worked perfectly for the Cavs, who have the league’s best record at 31-4 and are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak. They’re hosting the West-leading Thunder tonight in the most anticipated game of the season.

“When I signed back here my first intention was we need to get the most out of Ev,” Mitchell said. “Never played with a guy like Ev. So, how do we get the most out of that partnership? Saw it in that Boston (playoff) series. He has the talent. It was more about him believing it on a nightly basis. I want him to think, ‘I’m that dude.’ Now you surround him with a guy like myself and it makes it tough on any defense. Just being on the floor with him allows him to kind of play a certain way. It’s allowed myself to grow too.”

A five-time All-Star, Mitchell has revitalized basketball in Cleveland since being acquired in a trade two-plus seasons ago. He could have made almost any demand to sign the extension, so it was somewhat surprising that he wanted to share the ball more. He and new coach Kenny Atkinson started devising the revamped offense and increased usage for Mobley when they met for lunch in June.

“That was my growth,” Mitchell said. “When people ask, ‘What is the next level? What do you work on?’ This is what it takes. You don’t know what is going to come of that. It’s when you really have to sit down and ask yourself, ‘What do you want? Do you really want to win? How badly do you want to win?’ When I say these things, I’m still going to be myself but understanding when to pick the spots and being smart about it. It’s not easy. But it’s what’s needed. Everyone knows me as a scorer, but with this group it doesn’t have to be 30 every night. My job as a leader is to figure out where I impact the game that night. How do I make winning plays? It’s about being able to embrace that, understand that and be OK with that — and I am.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

• Isaac Okoro is active for tonight’s contest against Oklahoma City, Fedor states in a separate story. Okoro was cleared to return after missing the last eight games with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. He’s expected to come off the bench in a limited role, with Dean Wade staying in the starting lineup, according to Fedor. Shooting specialist Sam Merrill will miss his third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle, Fedor adds, as the Cavaliers still haven’t fielded a fully healthy team in any game this season.
• Before hosting the Bulls tonight, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle talked about the offseason loss of Jalen Smith in free agency, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. He said the organization was hoping to keep Smith, but couldn’t compete with the offer he got from Chicago. “We wanted him back but we were limited as to how much we could pay him,” Carlisle said. “… He had a very good year and he had a great second year for us that set him up for the Bulls. This was an opportunity he had to take because of the financial aspect.”
• Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu has made significant improvement with his strained lower right calf, per K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Coach Billy Donovan said Dosunmu has started running on a treadmill and is “getting closer and closer to playing.”