Mitchell's contract extension has finally been finalized.
According to a report from ESPN, the Cavaliers and Mitchell agreed to a three-year, $150.3 million early contract extension, with a player option for the final year of the contract, and the specific three-year salary is:
- $46.39 million for the 2025-26 season
- $50.11 million for the 2026-27 season
- 2027-28 season, $53.82 million (player option)
Before the contract extension, Mitchell has two years left on his contract, of which the second year is a player option, and he can become a free agent as early as 2025, considering that the Cavaliers spent 3 first-round + 2 swaps + Markkanen to take Mitchell from the Jazz, so their biggest task in the offseason is to renew Mitchell's contract.
It needs to be said that the largest renewal contract that Mitchell can sign is actually 4 years and 208 million, and the reason why he chose the 2+1 three-year contract has a lot to do with the maximization of benefits.
By the 2027 offseason, Mitchell will have another chance to become a free agent, having been in the league for 10 years, and can sign a cap salary of 35% of the salary cap (currently 30%).
According to salary expert Bobby Marks, the contract will be up to $380 million over five years (waiving the player option for the 2027-28 season of the previous contract) and the specific salary is:
- $65.5 million for the 2027-28 season
- $70.7 million for the 2028-29 season
- $76 million for the 2029-30 season
- 2030-31, $81.2 million
- $86.5 million for the 2031-32 season
In other words, if he can maintain his peak condition and everything goes according to expectations, then in the 2025-32 season, Mitchell can earn $475 million in 7 years, as a comparison, James has played a total of 21 seasons in his career so far, and the cumulative salary is 485 million.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Mitchell has to maintain his peak form, and if he can continue to maintain the form of the past two years, then the big contract will definitely not run away.
Let's start with the 2022-23 season, which is Mitchell's first season with the Cavaliers, and he played the peak of his career, averaging 28.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, shooting 48.4%/38.6%/86.7% from three, and 61.4% true shooting percentage.
During this period, Mitchell delivered many highlights, including 13 40+ times in a single season (the first in team history), 71 points in a single game, and he was not only selected as an All-Star, but also entered the second team of the All-NBA team (for the first time in his career), and led the Cavaliers to the fourth record in the East, returning to the playoffs after five years.
Looking at last season, Mitchell's performance was still excellent, averaging 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, shooting 46.2%/36.8%/86.5% from three, and 59.5% from the field.
Mitchell missed out on the All-Star selection due to lack of attendance, but he was selected as an All-Star for the fifth consecutive year and led the Cavaliers to the playoffs again as fourth in the East.
In the playoffs, Mitchell played a total of 10 games, averaging 29.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, shooting 47.6%/35.4%/81.5% and 58.4% true shooting rate;
Among them, in the first round of G6 and G7, Mitchell scored 50 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, 39 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists respectively, leading the team to eliminate Magic;
In the second round against the Celtics with Holiday + White, Mitchell averaged 31.7 points per game in the first three games, but unfortunately he was injured in the last two games and could not play.
Based on the performance of the past two years, you can see that Mitchell is definitely at his peak now, he is the best player for the Cavaliers, and he can even be said to be a superstar in the top 10-15 in the league today.
As for whether Mitchell can get 380 million in the next 5 years, I personally don't think it's a big problem, after all, Mitchell is only 27 years old now, and he has at least 5 years left in his peak.
At this point, some fans must think it is an exaggeration, after all, it is a contract with an average salary of 76 million, but after the NBA has signed a new broadcast contract, the value of the top salary in the future will only get higher and higher, young players like Wembanyama and Edwards may have the opportunity to get a salary of 100 million a year, and it is good to get used to these sky-high figures.
It is worth mentioning that after Mitchell's contract renewal, ESPN's Brain Windhorst made a very controversial point on the show, saying:
"[Mitchell's contract extension] is a big moment for the Cavaliers, the second-largest contract signing in Cavaliers history, behind LeBron in 2014, and the Cavaliers spent a lot of money getting Mitchell from the Jazz, so of course they have to find a way to keep him.
He played an impressive game last season and should have been named to the All-Star team if he hadn't been injured, Mitchell is arguably the second-best player in Cavaliers history, Kyrie Irving has a championship resume, but Mitchell has a chance to put his name behind LeBron. ”
There should be no suspense about the Cavaliers' all-time leader, but who is the better player, Mitchell or Irving? Personally, I think it should be Irving, after all, Irving has helped the Cavaliers reach the Finals three times and won the first championship in team history.
Mitchell is very strong, and his performance in the past two years is definitely commendable, just looking at the regular season, he may be better than Irving in any year with the Cavaliers, but after all, he has not achieved a good team result, and he has only played two seasons.
And with Mitchell's contract extension completed, the Cavaliers still have a lot of issues to deal with next, including Garland's departure, Jarrett Allen's potential trade, and Mobley's early contract extension, which may determine whether the Cavaliers have championship prospects next season - Mitchell has really tried his best in the past two years, find some better helper, otherwise the Cavaliers want to break out of the East? It's a bit difficult.