Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell says the key to his career-high efficiency this season is allowing the game to "come to him." (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
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Donovan Mitchell knows he's having an efficient start to the 2025-26 NBA season.
The six-time All-Star guard is carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 30.5 point-per-game scoring average entering Saturday's contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. That average ranks fourth in the NBA, with the second-best Cavaliers player, Evan Mobley, averaging 19.0 points per game.
However, what's most impressive is that the 29-year-old star is doing at a pretty efficient clip. He's converting on 50.0% of his field goal attempts and 38.9% from beyond the arc, which exceeds his career efficiency of 45.0% from the field and 36.7% from three-point range. Mitchell is doing this in the absence of starting small forward Max Strus and without All-Star guard Darius Garland through the team's first 10 games.
"The game is basically as easy as you make -- you gotta go out there and make the right play," says Mitchell in a one-on-one interview. "Sometimes you gotta feel the game. sometimes the right plays you just go out there and score. Sometimes the right plays, you gain off it real quick, allowing teammates to create and you may get the ball back."
Mitchell says he's converting on a lot of scoring opportunities through a myriad of ways, including smart passes.
"I think we look at scoring as like, 'Man, he's out there just doing his thing offensively,'" says Mitchell. "But there's so many easy shots that I'm getting because it's a simple pass ahead, the defense looks this way, I go back this way. There's so many elements to that."
The ninth-year veteran's best year when it comes to efficiency was when he converted on 48.4% of his attempts from the field and 38.6% of his attempts from beyond the arc during his first year in Cleveland during the 2022-23 season.
He says that as he gets deeper into his career, efficiency and shot attempts are a matter of "how easy you make it."
"It's just basic, it's just how easy you make it," says Mitchell of his career-high efficiency. "I think as I'm getting older, I'm starting to realize that, 'I don't have to just go to the rim and just be athletic. There's so many other ways to still get to the rim, try to get to the free-throw line, try to preserve your body and make the game easy for yourself."
Mitchell makes sure to give major credit to his former head coach with the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder, for helping him learn how to "grow up" and make things easier for himself and his teammates. Mitchell is also averaging 5.5 assists per game, which is the second-highest average of his career.
"I give Quin Snyder a lot of credit, he taught me a lot, and I'm very thankful for him," says Mitchell of Snyder. "When you're in a situation where you gotta grow up in a sense, I think that forces you to kind of look at things to get better and better. Obviously, experience is the best part about all of this. You start to see things differently. I understand the game a lot more, and that's really what it is. Really what you're seeing is, 'How do I make the game easy for others and easy for myself?'"
Despite all their injuries and the instability in the starting lineup, the Cavaliers have an 8-5 record entering Saturday's game, the fourth-best mark in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last year with a 64-18 record, but lost in disappointing fashion in the second round to the Indiana Pacers.
Mitchell says that while the Cavaliers would love to win as many games as possible and clinch the No. 1 seed again, the key this year moreso is to have the right mental approach and be ready for the playoffs this time around. Cleveland has advanced to the playoffs three consecutive years during the Mitchell era, but they've never been to the Eastern Conference Finals. They're looking to break through the glass ceiling this year.
"I think the biggest thing I talked about last year, we did everything right -- so to speak -- won Coach of the Year, All-NBA players, All-Stars, all these different things," says Mitchell. "Best record in the league. All the things, right? We got the win streaks, but ultimately it's a mental approach."
While Mitchell is obviously concentrated on ensuring the Cavaliers maximize their talent and win a championship, he's partnering with CarMax along with WNBA Rookie of the Year and Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers. The Cavaliers veteran stars in a new commercial for the brand to kick off a three-year partnership that CarMax has with the NBA and the WNBA. The commercial sees Mitchell surprise fans while stepping behind a drum kit with the CarMax house band showing off his musical talent.
Donovan Mitchell starring in his new CarMax commercial.
CarMax
"It’s kind of crazy," says Mitchell. “I was talking to them when they got on set. It was just like, I got on set, and it was like, 'Man, seeing all the commercials and now I'm one of the guys is pretty special. To be able to work with somebody, or work with a company, and see that when you're on set, you have such fun. The commercial kind of represented that I had fun, able to do things outside of just playing basketball. It was just me playing drums with the house band, which they came up with a song which was fire that I didn't even know that they created just for me. I was able to play the drums too, and use my brand and use their brand, but come together and have a good time.”
Donovan Mitchell starring in his new CarMax commercial.
CarMax
The Cavaliers star says he was comfortable appearing on camera in a scripted role, saying he was having fun on the set.
"I'm getting better at it," says Mitchell of his acting skills. "It's been nine years now, so I'm starting to figure it out. But that was one of the ones where I just felt like when you're in an environment where the set is fun, it kind of makes it easy to not really feel like you're behind the camera. It feels like you're just out there doing what you do. I think that was what made it easy for me, just being on set, having a great time. But honestly, it's funny you should say that I'm a natural. I know my fiancee would love hearing that too. She's an actress, so it's not my first time. But I had a good time for sure."