The Cleveland Cavaliers have achieved one of their primary aims of the offseason while the wait continues on whether LeBron James will return to the franchise for a third time.
The team announced Thursday that Donovan Mitchell has signed his four-year, $273 million contract extension.
The seven-time All-Star agreed to the extension on Tuesday, the first day the Cavs could offer it. Mitchell had two seasons remaining on his contract and could have waited to re-sign until next summer, when he would be eligible for a five-year supermax deal worth $350 million.
“From day one, he embraced this organization, our fans, and our community. He’s been clear in his desire to be here, and that speaks volumes about who he is,” president of basketball operations Koby Altman said in a statement. ”Securing Donovan long term reflects our shared vision and our commitment to building toward another NBA championship in Cleveland.”
The 29-year-old Mitchell led the Cavaliers this past season to their first conference final since 2018. He averaged 27.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the regular season, along with 26 points in the playoffs.
Mitchell’s extension has been the Cavaliers’ biggest move of the offseason while everyone in the NBA waits to see where James decides to sign.
The Cavaliers are a sentimental favorite for James to return. The 41-year-old from Akron, Ohio, was the top overall pick by Cleveland in 2003 and has spent 11 of his 23 seasons wearing wine and gold (2003-10, 2014-18). He left for Miami in 2010 but returned four years later to lead the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in 2016.
James Harden — whom the Cavaliers acquired at the trade deadline — also is considering a new deal to remain with Cleveland after turning down his player option for 2026-27.
It is likely Harden will wait until after the Cavaliers do the rest of their offseason moves before coming back.
So far the Cavaliers have seen Dean Wade (Philadelphia) and Larry Nance Jr. (Indiana) depart, but they did re-sign reserve center Thomas Bryant.
For now, Mitchell’s extension it is the fourth-biggest contract in terms of total value in NBA history behind the $314 million contract Boston gave to Jayson Tatum, the $285 million deal that the Celtics gave to Jaylen Brown -- who now plays for Philadelphia -- and the $276 million deal that Nikola Jokic currently has with Denver.
That assumes Mitchell will pick up a player option worth nearly $76 million for 2030-31. The average annual value of just over $68 million is, for now, an NBA record, barely passing the $67.9 million average value of the deal that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has with Oklahoma City.
The extension also includes full trade kicker.
Mitchell is averaging 26.7 points in four seasons with Cleveland since he was traded by the Utah Jazz in 2022.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
