Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell recently commented on the idea of him winning the scoring title.
Amid Mitchell’s strong start to the season, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon began wondering if the Cavs star could win the scoring title (if he tried) and whether or not that would be good for Cleveland as a team, which led to him asking Mitchell about it.
“I mean, yeah, but is that what we need?” Mitchell said Saturday.
Even though he’s one of the most gifted scorers in the NBA, Mitchell is focused on what the team needs and not what he can do as an individual player.
“It’s more so what do we need as opposed to what could I do,” Mitchell said.
Cavs fans have to love Mitchell’s mentality, as it’s clear that he wants to do anything he can to help the team succeed and isn’t focused on his personal accolades.
Mitchell’s selflessness was on display in the 2024-25 season, as he took a step back offensively, taking just 18.6 shots per game (his lowest as a member of the Cavs) to help players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley thrive on offense.
The sacrifice worked, as both Garland and Mobley were named to the All-Star Game and the Cavs finished with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Mitchell was an All-NBA selection and still put up strong numbers, averaging 24.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
This season, Mitchell has had to take on a bigger scoring load with key teammates missing time at certain points. The six-time All-Star is averaging 30.7 points per game while shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 44.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Cavs have won four games in a row to get to 7-3 in the 2025-26 season, and Mitchell’s scoring has kept the offense afloat at times amid the aforementioned injury woes. The good news is that Cleveland keeps getting healthier.
It’s possible that Mitchell could win a scoring title this season, but it seems like the Cavs star won’t chase it. He’s clearly focused on helping the team have more success as it chases a deep playoff run this season.
Since Mitchell came to the Cavs in a trade with the Utah Jazz, Cleveland has made the playoffs in every season. However, the Cavs have just two playoff series wins in three years and have not made an Eastern Conference Finals appearance with their current core.
Mitchell will aim to turn that around this season, and he may need some big scoring performances in the postseason to get it done.