Darius Garland Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: DeRozan, Allen, Garland, Mitchell, Okoro, Terry

October 30th, 2023 at 6:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

DeMar DeRozan is playing on an expiring contract but the Bulls’ wing says he’s not concerned about the lack of an extension to this point.

“I honestly don’t think about it at all. I never have,” DeRozan told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “It doesn’t worry me or stress me out. Again, I control what I can control. And in due time, let it speak for itself.”

DeRozan also doesn’t envision trying to force a trade.

“I feel like I wouldn’t be able to lay down comfortably if I went somewhere and said, ‘(Expletive) trade me. I’m tired of this.’ That’s just not me,” he said. “I’m going to compete, be the best version I can be and let it go from there.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Jarrett Allen (ankle bone bruise) and Darius Garland (hamstring strain) will remain out of the Cavaliers’ lineup against the Knicks on Tuesday and Donovan Mitchell (hamstring) is listed as questionable, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. However, Allen and Mitchell did practice on Monday, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets. Garland went through an individual shooting workout to test his hamstring, Fedor adds (Twitter link).
The Cavaliers will be playing the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Isaac Okoro admits that disappointment was tough to shake, he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “I know [losing to the Knicks] stuck with me for a pretty long time,” Okoro said. “It took me a minute to get over it.”
The Bulls have assigned forward Dalen Terry to their NBA G League franchise, the Windy City Bulls, the NBA team tweets. With Tuesday’s deadline looming, the Bulls have yet to exercise their $3,5MM third-year option on Terry. The 2022 first-rounder has only played five minutes this season. “It’s great he’s with us at times. But I don’t know if we want to keep him with us if he’s not going to be in the rotation,’ “coach Billy Donovan told Johnson.

Injury Notes: Garland, Allen, Claxton, Johnson, Martin

October 27th, 2023 at 6:44pm CST by Rory Maher

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland will miss Friday’s home opener against Oklahoma City with a left hamstring strain, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff previously called Garland “very questionable,” tweets Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo.

According to Fedor, Garland didn’t participate in the team’s shootaround on Friday morning, and the Cavs decided to take a cautious approach with the 2021/22 All-Star.

Garland will be Cleveland’s second starter sitting out, as Jarrett Allen continues to deal with a left ankle bone bruise. The 25-year-old center is expected to miss Saturday’s back-to-back against Indiana as well, Fedor writes.

The Cavs are hopeful that Allen will make his 2023/24 season debut on Tuesday against the Knicks, sources tell Fedor. Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade, who missed Cleveland’s first game with an illness, will start in place of Garland and Allen.

Here are a few more injury notes:

Nets big man Nic Claxton has a left ankle sprain and is out for Friday’s game at Dallas, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn’s starting center will be a free agent next summer — he’s on an expiring $9.6MM contract. According to Lewis (Twitter link), head coach Jacque Vaughn said Claxton is day-to-day.
Nets forward Cameron Johnson will also be in street clothes on Friday, having been downgraded from questionable to out with a left calf contusion (Twitter links via Lewis). Vaughn said the team is just being cautious with Johnson, who re-signed with Brooklyn on a four-year, $90MM+ contract this summer. It’s worth noting that Johnson missed all of training camp and preseason with a mild left hamstring strain, though he did start and play 26 minutes in Wednesday’s opener vs. Cleveland.
The Heat will be shorthanded again on Friday at Boston, with Caleb Martin (knee) the latest wing player sidelined (Twitter link via the team). Josh Richardson (foot) and Haywood Highsmith (knee) didn’t travel with Miami on its three-game road trip, as we previously relayed. On Tuesday, Martin said his knee still wasn’t 100%, calling the injury “a work in progress.” He played 20 minutes in Wednesday’s opener vs. Detroit.

And-Ones: Ignite, 2024 Draft, Unsuccessful Pairings, Eddy Curry

September 7th, 2023 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The G League Ignite’s impressive collection of talent was on display Wednesday night in Nevada, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. Six players who may be selected in next year’s draft were on the court for the Ignite, and a seventh, Thierry Darlan of France, missed the game against Perth, Australia, with an ankle injury.

The biggest attraction was guard Ron Holland, whom Hollinger considers the “betting favorite” to be the top pick in 2024. Hollinger adds that Holland isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 choice like Victor Wembanyama was this year, but he looked good in his first pro game, using a mix of explosiveness and ferocity to put up 23 points.

“Ron is very, very competitive” Ignite coach Jason Hart said. “So now I’m wanting to channel it to where the opposition doesn’t know if you’re mad or you’re happy. I just told him to relax, calm down … I think he heard me. But that’s going to be a process because he’s so competitive, and I don’t want to take that from him. That’s his thing; he’s just has to learn how to use it.”

Matas Buzelis and Izan Almansa, who are projected to be top-10 picks, also showed off their skills, Hollinger adds, along with Tyler Smith, London Johnson and Perth prospects Alex Sarr and Ben Henshall. The teams will meet again on Friday.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Buzelis tops the first mock draft posted by Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. O’Connor sees the 6’9″ point forward as a comfortable fit for any team because he’s capable of running the offense and reliably hitting mid-range jumpers. Buzelis will have to get stronger and improve his defense throughout the season to keep his No. 1 ranking, O’Connor adds. Rounding out O’Connor’s top five are Holland, Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter, UConn’s Stephon Castle and Almansa.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looks at NBA combinations that haven’t worked out, starting with the Timberwolves‘ pairing of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. He also mentions Trae Young and Dejounte Murray in the Hawks‘ backcourt, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with the Clippers, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland with the Cavaliers, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with the Mavericks and Joel Embiid and James Harden with the Sixers.
Former No. 4 overall pick Eddy Curry talks to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic about how he was able to find peace by helping others after a tumultuous playing career. At age 40, Curry is working as a consultant in Texas, advising young players as they deal with the challenges of basketball stardom.

Cavs’ Bickerstaff Talks Strus, Niang, Mitchell, More

August 8th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Cleveland’s 51-31 record in 2022/23 was the best mark for a Cavaliers team without LeBron James since 1992/93 and resulted in the franchise’s first playoff berth since James’ most recent departure in 2018. Unfortunately for the Cavs, their postseason run was short-lived, as the Knicks quickly dispatched them in a one-sided first-round series.

Speaking to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff admitted that the playoff loss “took some time to process.” But now that he’s a few months removed from it, Bickerstaff is more willing to focus on the Cavaliers’ regular season success and to find silver linings in their early postseason exit.

“I think when you sit back, look at the regular season – and I think the regular season was a test that was passed – and then you get to the playoffs where things ramp up a notch, it was the greatest learning experience our guys could have had, that I could have had,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s the opportunity to be in a position you have never been in before and a responsibility that you’ve never had before. Nothing worth having has ever come easy to anybody.

“At the end of the day, you sit back and look at it and the season was successful. The experience our young guys gained in the playoffs is only going to make them better. That’s the reality of it. We get caught up in the emotion of it all in the moment because we are all so competitive. But in reality, we’re not above the process either. There are steps that just can’t be skipped.”

As Bickerstaff notes, many of the Cavaliers’ core players – such as Evan Mobley and Darius Garland – are still young and were experiencing a playoff environment for the first time. He believes they learned important lessons during that five-game series and will benefit from the experience going forward.

Here are a few more highlights from Fedor’s interview with Bickerstaff:

On how adding Max Strus and Georges Niang as free agents will impact the Cavaliers’ playing style in 2023/24:

“I don’t want to give away too much. But the spacing on the floor becomes different. The attention that goes to those two guys because of Georges’ career 40% 3-point shooting and Max Strus’ ability to make shots off the move, defenses have to make different decisions now than they had to last year. Those are different dynamics that we added.

“Our offense can improve and be more dynamic and difficult to guard — even though we were a top-10 offense in the regular season. You learn from the playoffs about how to become more difficult to guard in that setting. I think there is a more dynamic nature that we can have offensively. Those are things I’m studying now and we will implement this coming season.”

On Donovan Mitchell‘s potential long-term future in Cleveland:

“He was with us in Las Vegas and stayed longer than most. He worked out with the guys and went to dinners. … There were conversations we had with him during free agency about trying to get the people we needed in here. There were conversations he had with the guys we were able to bring in.

“All those things tell you that Donovan is all in. If a guy is not attentive to free agency and how we are going to get better as a team, if he is not attentive to his teammates over the summer, if he is not attentive to working on the individual things that may make him uncomfortable but also are best for the team moving forward, to me that would be a guy who is not engaged. I have seen the opposite. I have seen a guy who is all in.”

On whether he’s feeling pressure to live up to increased expectations in 2023/24:

“Pressure from what? I think the funny thing for us coaches when it comes to pressure is you want to have a good team and you want expectations. If you have a team with no expectations, as a coach, competitor, and player, that is ultimately not the job you’re looking for. The word pressure is kind of comical, to be honest with you, because you have a good team and that’s what you want.

“… Pressure isn’t a word that coaches really think about because it’s our job to continue to get better. I think we have done that here. From where we started with this team to where we are now, there is no way to say we haven’t done the job building this the right way. Look at the environment. Look at individual development. Look at team development. There are no holes. Our job is to continue to do what we’ve already done but also continue to get better. That’s what we want.”

Eastern Notes: Garland, Adebayo, Love, Beauchamp

July 31st, 2023 at 9:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland is using the team’s first-r0und playoff loss to New York as fuel for next season, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“I’ve been watching a lot of film of it this summer. Just trying to find ways to improve for next year. But now we’ve seen the playoffs,” Garland said. “For a lot of guys, it was our first time in the playoffs, so just getting that playoff experience made us better I think and made us hungrier. Even though we had a good year, I think we can trend up another notch this year and see what’s to come.”

One thing that Garland believes is that the Cavs collectively have to be tougher and stronger in their next postseason appearance.

“We have to be more physical,” Garland said. “I think their physicality took a toll on us in that series. They beat us up. We now know how physical the game is in the playoffs and we know how fast the pace is and every possession matters. Just taking little bits and pieces of that series and trying to put it together for the regular season and then also carry that into the playoffs.”

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Bam Adebayo believes the Heat simply wore down during their long postseason run, he told Leonard Solms in an ESPN story. “I feel like we just came up short because we had [among the most] injuries in the 2022-23 season. [Through] all those ups and downs throughout the season… I feel like fatigue had a toll,” he said of the Finals loss to the Nuggets.
Kevin Love‘s role with the Heat could fluctuate next season, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Love could start against bigger front lines with Caleb Martin starting against small-ball lineups, provided Martin isn’t dealt. Love could also see some action as the backup center. However, Winderman notes that coach Erik Spoelstra prefers continuity during the regular season.
Bucks guard MarJon Beauchamp had a memorable performance at the Crawsover Pro-Am event in his hometown of Seattle over the weekend, JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes. Beauchamp scored 83 points in a game at Seattle Pacific University to set an event scoring record. He’s expected to have an expanded role next season with the Bucks after playing 52 regular season games as a rookie.

Cavaliers Notes: Mitchell, Roster Moves, Garland, Bates

July 8th, 2023 at 5:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Friday marked the first day the Cavaliers were permitted to submit an extension offer to Donovan Mitchell, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The All-Star guard has two years left on his current contract, along with a $37MM player option for 2025/26. President of basketball operations Koby Altman hopes to iron out a long-term agreement this summer and shut down rumors that the New York native has an eye on eventually joining the Knicks in free agency.

Altman said the front office will have “internal discussions” about the details of an extension that he hopes will appeal to Mitchell. He added that keeping a competitive roster around Mitchell is the best way to make him want to stay in Cleveland.

“He’s really, really happy here and he’ll tell you that,” Altman said. “All I can go off is Donovan’s actions and his intentions. He’s with us in Vegas right now. He’s super excited about the future. He’ll be at the game tonight. He’s been in Cleveland multiple times this offseason already. He’s worked out with guys, he’s bringing guys with him wherever he is. All you can go off are those actions and how genuine he talks about his experience in Cleveland. I think he sees the runway of the players around him and the youth around him. All I can go off is his actions and his intentions and they’ve all been really genuine.”

There’s more on the Cavaliers:

Altman told reporters that Mitchell helped with recruiting during free agency, Fedor relays. Cleveland was able to re-sign Caris LeVert, bring in Max Strus in a sign-and-trade and add Georges Niang and Ty Jerome, even though Fedor notes that they all had other options. “This is the team they wanted to come to,” Altman said. “They saw the fit. They saw the upside. They think that we can go a long way.”
Altman pledged to keep the core of last year’s team together and dismissed speculation that he was considering offers for Darius Garland, calling it “the most crazy rumor you’ve ever heard in your life,” Fedor adds.
The Cavs are hoping for gradual progress from second-round pick Emoni Bates, Fedor states in a separate Cleveland.com story. Bates, who was once considered the top high school prospect in the nation, is hoping to re-establish himself after struggling through two collegiate seasons. “There’s no expectation here,” Altman said. “Don’t have to come in here and shock the world. Really learn from this group and have fun again. If he blossoms into a rotational player down the road that can really help us space the floor and shoot, which I think is one of his best traits, that’d be great. But no expectation for him and certainly have patience and let him grow.”

Trade Rumors: LaVine, Garland, Rockets, Clippers, Blazers, Bucks

June 28th, 2023 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have engaged with “several” teams about the possibility of a Zach LaVine trade this offseason, but haven’t gotten serious about moving the high-scoring guard, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

As Fischer explains, LaVine’s pricey long-term contract will make potential trade partners wary about giving up a substantial package of players and draft picks, but the Bulls would be seeking a return that far outweighs what Washington got for Bradley Beal last week.

Fischer names the Knicks and Mavericks as possible teams to watch for LaVine, but immediately throws cold water on the likelihood of either club emerging as a legitimate suitor in the near future. New York seems to be taking a more patient approach to building its roster, according to Fischer, who adds that Dallas was viewed as a more serious threat for LaVine before acquiring Kyrie Irving as a co-star for Luka Doncic.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

Despite some speculation to the contrary, the Cavaliers haven’t had any discussions about trading Darius Garland and have no intention to move the All-Star point guard, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). The Cavs appear focused on pursuing roster moves that don’t involve trading any of their four cornerstone players (Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen).
In addition to Kenyon Martin Jr., the Rockets have gauged potential trade interest in young players like Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher, sources tell Fischer.
Norman Powell and Marcus Morris have both been mentioned in recent days as trade candidates. According to Fischer, the Clippers have been canvassing the league to see what a package of both players might return.
No clear suitors have emerged for guard Anfernee Simons, who looks like the Trail Blazers‘ most obvious trade chip, says Fischer. According to Fischer, the Blazers and Cavaliers had some brief talks about Nassir Little prior to the draft, but didn’t gain any real traction toward a deal.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast that the Bucks had some “relatively serious” internal conversations about John Collins before he was dealt to Utah. “I do think Milwaukee is looking around for, like, ‘Can we get a little injection of randomness? (An) injection of, like, bounce and athleticism, and just change?'” Lowe said. “Maybe just change more than anything else. But I don’t think (the Collins interest) went anywhere serious.”

Contract Implications Of Today’s All-NBA Announcement

May 10th, 2023 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA will announce its All-NBA teams for the 2022/23 on Wednesday night, unveiling the First, Second, and Third teams during a TNT broadcast beginning at 6:00 pm Central time (Twitter link).

For many of this year’s All-NBA candidates, earning a spot on one of the three teams will simply bolster their career résumés, perhaps increasing their chances of being inducted into the Hall of Fame down the line.

But there are a handful of players who have – or could have – a significant amount of money riding on tonight’s announcement. Those players would become eligible for a more lucrative contract by making an All-NBA team.

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement typically restricts players who have six or fewer years of NBA experience from signing deals worth more than 25% of the salary cap. However, earning an All-NBA berth at the right time can make those players eligible to sign for up to 30% up the cap.

Similarly, players with between seven and nine years in the league are usually limited to signing contracts worth up to 30% of the cap, but an All-NBA nod can make them eligible to receive up to 35% of the cap instead.

We have more specific details on how Rose Rule deals and Designated Veteran contracts work in a pair of glossary entries, so you can check those out for more information. Here are the players who could be the most financially impacted by this year’s All-NBA voting results:

Jayson Tatum (Celtics)

Tatum will only have six years of NBA experience at the end of this season, so he’s not yet eligible to sign a super-max extension. However, assuming he makes an All-NBA team – which is a virtual lock – he’ll have met the performance criteria for a Designated Veteran extension.

Players who have seven years of NBA experience and who made the All-NBA team in two of the last three seasons are super-max eligible. That means that an All-NBA nod tonight would put Tatum in position to sign a five-year DVE (worth 35% of the 2025/26 cap) in the 2024 offseason regardless of whether he makes an All-NBA team next season, since he’ll have done so in both 2022 and 2023.

Jaylen Brown (Celtics) / Pascal Siakam (Raptors)

We’re grouping Brown and Siakam together here, since they’re in identical situations. Both members of the 2016 draft class are finishing up their seventh year in the NBA and have contracts that expire in 2024.

If they earn All-NBA honors this season, both Brown and Siakam would be eligible to sign five-year Designated Veteran extensions that begin in 2024/25 and start at up to 35% of that season’s cap.

Unlike Tatum, neither Brown nor Siakam is a slam dunk to make an All-NBA team. The odds of both players making the cut are probably slim, but they each have a chance at a Third Team spot. I’d view Brown as the slightly stronger candidate, given Boston’s regular season record relative to Toronto’s.

Ja Morant (Grizzlies)

Morant has actually already signed a rookie scale extension, completing that deal with the Grizzlies last offseason. However, its exact value will look drastically different depending on whether or not Morant makes an All-NBA team tonight. If he earns a spot, his contract would start at 30% of the 2023/24 salary cap; if he misses out, his deal would start at 25% of next season’s cap.

Based on a $134MM salary cap, the difference between Morant’s two possible deals is nearly $40MM — he’ll earn a projected $233MM across five years if he’s named to an All-NBA team and about $194MM if he’s not.

Morant looked like a safe bet to earn All-NBA honors during the first half of the season, but an eight-game suspension for waving a gun in a Colorado strip club derailed his second half and made him more of a borderline candidate. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he doesn’t make it.

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Cavaliers guard Darius Garland also signed Rose Rule rookie scale extensions last summer and would have salaries worth 30% of the 2023/24 cap (instead of 25%) if they make an All-NBA team. That won’t happen for Williamson, who was limited to 29 games this season. It probably won’t happen for Garland either, though he has a far better chance to show up on some ballots.

Non-eligible candidates

To be eligible for a super-max extension worth 35% of the cap, a player can’t have been traded since his second NBA contract began. That rule will make Kings center Domantas Sabonis ineligible for a super-max deal even if he shows up on the All-NBA Third Team tonight.

Several other All-NBA candidates, including Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, could become super-max eligible down the road, but don’t have enough NBA experience to qualify yet. They would each need to make at least one more All-NBA team in a future season to become eligible, regardless of what happens this year.

Cavs Notes: Mitchell, Next Season, LeVert, Garland, Wing Upgrades

April 27th, 2023 at 10:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers traded for Donovan Mitchell to make them a true contender. Mitchell felt personally responsible for the team’s 4-1 series loss to the Knicks, according to Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.

“I don’t feel like I was the player I needed to be for this group,” Mitchell said. “That’s what’s gonna keep me up at night. I’ve done it all year. You know what I mean? So I just didn’t deliver like I expected myself to, my teammates and everybody expects me to. And like I said, I take that upon myself, man, like I gotta be better.”

Mitchell averaged 23.2 points — five below his season average — and shot 43.3 percent and 28.9 on 3-point attempts in the series.

We have more on the Cavs:

This year’s playoff flop puts immense pressure on the team to get deeper into the postseason next year, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic opines. Even though Mitchell is signed through the 2025/26 season, he can opt out in the summer of 2025. If the Cavs can’t get a long-term commitment from Mitchell after next season, they may need to trade him, Lloyd writes. They also don’t have many assets to upgrade the roster.
Caris LeVert is headed to free agency but he “absolutely” wants to re-sign, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. LeVert averaged 18 points in the last four games of the series.
Darius Garland learned some lessons during the series, Fedor writes at Cleveland.com. Garland’s eyes were opened by the different tempo and intensity in the playoffs. “The pace is just so fast, it’s just coming to you really quick,” Garland said. “It’s a lot to process. Go back and watch this film, see what we did wrong. Trying to learn from it as much as I can. It hurts, but we know what it feels like. We know how playoff basketball is. We know the physicality of it. We know the mental aspect of it. It’s going to make us work hard and we’re going to remember this feeling.”
How can the Cavs upgrade at the wing? Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype explores that topic in his offseason primer. They could target Josh Richardson, Jalen McDaniels or Kelly Oubre with their mid-level exception. They could also try to trade for a forward with the MLE since the new CBA allows it to be used as a trade exception. Potential targets in that case could include Royce O’Neale, Reggie Bullock or Alec Burks.

Cavaliers Notes: Okoro, Playoffs, Green, Mitchell

April 8th, 2023 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

Isaac Okoro will miss his sixth straight game on Sunday with soreness in his left knee, but there’s hope that he might be ready for the Cavaliers‘ playoff opener, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. After today’s practice, Okoro went through an on-court workout, which Fedor described as set shots followed by movement-based jumpers from 18 to 23 feet.

Okoro hasn’t played since March 26, and coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he’s being considered day-to-day. A source tells Fedor that Okoro has a bone bruise that’s causing the soreness, but adds that he probably could have played in the past few games if they had been more meaningful.

Okoro will be part of a long injury list when the Cavs wrap up their regular season tomorrow. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert and Dylan Windler are all listed as out, while Jarrett Allen is questionable.

There’s more from Cleveland:

After being eliminated in the play-in tournament last season, the Cavaliers are enjoying the security that comes with clinching the fourth seed, Fedor adds. The team will open the playoffs next Saturday or Sunday at home against the Knicks. “We are looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a very, very fun series to play,” Cedi Osman said. “This is what we worked for. We worked really hard for this and I’m happy we achieved and we deserve to be in the playoffs. Now, going to go out there, try to do our best and try to go as far as we can.”
Danny Green is the Cavaliers’ most experienced playoff veteran, but he may not be part of the rotation when the postseason begins, Fedor observes in another Cleveland.com story. Green signed with Cleveland in mid-February after reaching a buyout with the Rockets, but he has only played 71 total minutes in seven games with his new team. “Not up to me to decide,” Green responded when asked about his potential playoff role. “They had been winning before I got here so I know they had that rotation of guys that were playing well and they earned their minutes and the right to be in the playoffs and in the rotation. So, it’s up to me to earn my minutes and showcase to the coaching staff that I’m able to help and be ready when my number is called.”
Mitchell and Jalen Brunson both had huge scoring outbursts in the regular season meetings between the Cavs and Knicks, Zach Braziller of the New York Post notes in an analysis of the upcoming series. Mitchell averaged 31.8 points per game in the four contests, while Brunson was at 25.3 PPG.