Donovan Mitchell warns the competition: "We are championship contenders when we are healthy"

In an interview with Andscape, Donovan Mitchell spoke at length about his current situation, how he is approaching the upcoming season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, what it feels like to carry the weight of leading the franchise on his shoulders, and much more. Here we have selected the most interesting questions and their respective answers.

You told everyone you would re-sign with the Cavaliers, and you felt people didn't believe you. But during the offseason, you signed a three-year maximum contract extension for $150.3 million, including a player option for the 2027-28 season. What did signing that extension mean to you?

Until the pen touches the paper, obviously words mean nothing. But for me, man, once I got traded here, I didn't even know what was here until I got here. Obviously, I knew who would be on the team, but the city of Cleveland really caught me. I really love the people. I love the passion, the fans, obviously the organization, and obviously my teammates. And for me, we've kept finding success and continue to build and grow. As I've always said, 'You don't just prepare and then get to the Finals or win a championship. It takes time. You have to keep building and growing.' And for me, that was the most important thing, how we find ways to keep doing that.

And having an organization that believes in that, that isn't just content with the status quo of being okay... And after losing to Boston last season, yes, we were injured, and we had many ways to find excuses. The energy in the locker room wasn't like that. It was more like, we're coming back to do it again. And for me, that meant a lot because that's what I believe in. So being able to be with my teammates and this team again, and for the foreseeable future, I'm excited. We have a lot to prove and a lot more to achieve.

What responsibility comes with being the face of the franchise and signing such a contract?

You have to be the guy. And sometimes that means going out and scoring. Other times it means going out and making sure everyone is involved. Most nights, I should say, it's about involving everyone. That's what being the guy entails. When the praises come, it's not always about me. It's about my teammates and helping me get there.

So, understanding that whether we go far or not, that falls on my shoulders, and accepting and embracing that pressure. I feel like I've had that for most of my career. But also making sure to continue being that leader, the voice in the locker room, leading by example, but also being coachable. That's the most important point. It's not just about being "too big," being someone who wants that challenge, that burden, but also being coachable, approachable, and being the leader that I know I can be.

The Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach and replaced him with Kenny Atkinson. How did you take the coaching change?

It's part of the game, part of the business. I have respect for J.B., especially for what he did here in Cleveland during the five years he was here. But it's part of this. And for us, bringing in Kenny, I think will be a great addition to what we've been building. If you look at what he's done and what he did in Brooklyn [as head coach], obviously being with Golden State [as an assistant coach] in the past few years, and then being [an assistant coach] with the French national team, he has been surrounded by a lot of success at a high level. So being able to bring that here will definitely help us to continue our trajectory forward and keep building. That's the most important thing, keep building. You can't skip steps. That's the most important. You have to keep finding ways to win.

You have a long-standing relationship with the Cavaliers' new associate head coach, Johnnie Bryant, dating back to your days with the Utah Jazz. How did you convince him to leave the New York Knicks' bench and come to Cleveland?

I appreciate that, man. I consider him a brother now. For us, getting one of the best coaches in the league and a future head coach in this league is definitely a blessing. You add a great coach like Kenny, but now you're also adding a fantastic associate coach who will be a head coach at some point. What he's seen, he's been surrounded by success at a high level. Having him here was definitely huge. And obviously we had our relationship, but more important than that, you bring in a basketball mind in player development and someone who really knows a lot about the game.

There were no major changes in the Cavs' roster. But you have young talents maturing and more familiarity. If you guys are healthy, what are you?

We are championship contenders when we are healthy. I feel like last year we grew in many ways. We played in many different ways. During that stretch, obviously D.G. [Darius Garland] and Evan [Mobley] were injured. But we found something that can really help us take it to the next level. So now the trick is how we continue implementing that style of play over the 82 [regular-season games] and then the last 16 [playoff wins]. But development is part of the reasons why I decided to sign because I believe in our development. I believe in the hunger and willingness we have as a group.

And so for us, I think we are championship contenders when we are healthy. But at the end of the day, I can tell you this, we have to go out and keep proving it daily. We haven't done anything. We won just one more game than we did two years ago. So now it's about how we find ways to keep winning, building, and moving forward. And we haven't achieved what we needed to achieve. We've done a lot, but there's still a lot left to do.

Are you putting a lot of pressure on yourself to take this franchise to that elite level?

I wouldn't want it any other way, to be honest. That's why I work as I work, to allow myself to put that pressure on me. You give yourself space at certain times, but understanding that you train as you train, eat as you eat for that pressure, so it doesn't feel like pressure. It's just part of what comes with that contract. That's been my focal point. This is what is expected of you. This is what it is, and there are no shortcuts. There's no negotiating with yourself. I think it was Kobe [Bryant] who said that when you sign that contract with yourself, there's no negotiation. That's what it is. So yes, I do, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Did you work on anything different this summer or focus on improving?

Getting my body right. Obviously, you work on what you work on on the court. But I think I focused more on the nuances of my body and how I can continue to stay healthy. I started training a little later just to focus, because I had a situation with my knee last season. So I was able to take my time, give myself mental and physical time to rebuild and move forward. There's nothing structurally wrong, no damage or anything like that, but as you get older, you want to be ready, be available. The best ability is availability.

You had one of the top 4 records in the Eastern Conference last season. But often when national media talk about the East, they mention other teams. Have you noticed that? How do you feel about it? Does it motivate you?

It's to be expected. All the teams they talk about —if I'm not mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong— have made noise. There's Boston, who won a championship. New York and Philadelphia are the other two. Obviously, we've all reached the same distance. We've all reached the second round. But at the end of the day, they've made major changes. We haven't made major changes. So maybe that's not something to talk about.

But for us, you can't let it bother you. It's just what it is. They're going to talk about what they want to talk about. And for us, we just have to go out and keep proving to ourselves who we are, without worrying about what's being said around us. We all have our motivation from not being healthy and available to face Boston and give them our best shot. That's what happens. If you're not ready and not healthy, you miss your chance.

So for us, that's our motivation. Just keep finding ways to not just linger around. We have to make it to a conference final and then the Finals. That's our biggest motivation. But I'm not surprised, to be honest, that we're not in those conversations. But it's September, the goal isn't to be in those conversations now. The goal is to be in those conversations when the time comes and when it matters.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Donovan Mitchell avisa a la competencia: "Somos candidatos al anillo cuando estamos sanos"