CLEVELAND, Ohio — Forget about whether Donovan Mitchell is an MVP candidate. Forget about whether he is the best guard in the Eastern Conference. Forget about whether he can win a scoring title.
Before any of that, start with this: Mitchell might be the best leader in the Eastern Conference. And if you widen the lens across the entire NBA, there are only a small handful of players who can even be mentioned beside him.
“Is there anybody, any guard, playing as well as him in the league?” Atkinson questioned.
One name immediately comes to mind: reigning champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
It’s not because of scoring binges or highlight reels, but because of the way these two can carry a franchise, read the temperature of a team in real time, and know when to take the wheel and when to empower others to drive.
Mitchell’s leadership has reached a level where the nightly choices he makes, the emotional responsibility he shoulders, and the clarity with which he plays have turned into the defining force of Cleveland’s season.
The Cavs follow him because he leads with conviction. They rise with him because he rises with purpose. Every time he steps on the floor, he builds another case that he might be the most complete leader playing guard in the NBA.
When it comes to individual accolades, those debates will circulate around the league anyway. They swirl louder with every step-back three, every late-game takeover, every night that turns Rocket Arena into another reminder of his star power.
The 29-year-old has rocketed into the 2025-26 season, but individual honors do not sit at the center of Mitchell’s mind anymore.
At this stage of his career, those trophies are shiny objects he would gladly accept only if they arrive attached to the one piece of jewelry his résumé still lacks. But first, he has to navigate the haunted conference semifinals and manage the wear-and-tear that playoff history has taught him to respect.
“I want a ring,” Mitchell said pointedly after a win over the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month.
This season has already shown how intensely Mitchell is pursuing that dream. The shift did not begin in October. It began in the summer, when he pushed his body through grueling workouts alongside younger players with more bounce in their legs. He treated every rep like an investment in the season he knew he needed to have.
“I feel like I’m at my best right now, efficiency-wise,” Mitchell said when asked if this is the most complete he’s felt. “...I think I am, and I just gotta be consistent with it all year.”
His stat line from Sunday’s 120-105 win over the Clippers was another all-encompassing performance: 37 points, eight rebounds, five assists, 63% from the field and 55% from deep. A game he controlled without strain.
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The numbers are not hollow. They reflect intention. He is averaging the most points of his career, the second-most assists, the second-most rebounds and the most steals while shooting his best percentages from the field and beyond the arc.
“Everybody’s going to talk about the scoring. I thought the passing was phenomenal tonight,” Atkinson said Sunday. “The lobs and the kick outs to get 13 potential assists or something, someone said. So he’s just in a great place, great, great demeanor. He’s got great control of the game. He’s in this kind of money spot in his career. He’s just kind of got control of everything, and then just great on the bench leadership wise. He’s in a great, great place.”
Mitchell is the best version of himself because he’s found balance.
Last year, he focused on elevating teammates through fewer minutes and reduced usage. This year, he’s responding to what each game demands in the moment, whether that’s scoring at will or easing the burden on a roster that leans young and relies heavily on the connective tissue between role consistency and star presence.
“When it comes to scoring, I feel like I’m one of the best in the league,” Mitchell admitted. “Doing what I do and my teammates allow me to do that.”
For years, the Cavs waited for Evan Mobley to become the rising tide. That question still matters. But another question has risen beside it: how far can Cleveland go if they have the healthiest, most balanced version of Mitchell?
The playoffs exposed what happens when the Cavs need him to carry everything. Last year’s Pacers series turned on his exhaustion. His body faltered under the constant pounding and the full-court creation load.
This version of Mitchell is determined not to let that be the story again. He is already making the long-term decisions that stars in their primes must make: picking spots, trusting teammates, delegating creation, and giving Cleveland the freedom to grow so they can give him the runway he will eventually need.
“The Spida that we know, MVP that we know, first team All-NBA that we know that he should be every year,” Garland said after a win over the 76ers. “We really need that to go forward, and he’s starting to realize that. But he also wants us to do our thing as well. So it’s a give-and-take type of thing with Don, but we really need Don to go be Don.”
This is the equilibrium the Cavs have been searching for. The star must be himself. The team must grow around him. And the franchise must preserve him for the games that define legacies.
Mitchell is learning that as he goes.
“That’s what last year’s playoffs really taught me,” Mitchell said. “If you have to continue to drive full court, every single possession, you’re gonna tire out. You won’t be efficient. And I don’t just mean scoring, overall, as a basketball player. So I think for me, just finding different ways to score, different ways to be a threat, and then that opens up everything else. ”
That is leadership. The ability to adapt. The willingness to look in the mirror. The maturity to make every possession feel like a calculated choice rather than a forced one. The understanding that the Cavs need him to be brilliant, but they also need him to be preserved.
There may not be a better leader in the Eastern Conference. Not when factoring emotion, responsibility, IQ, maturity and the nightly ratio between scoring bursts and stewardship.
And the young players are feeding off all the knowledge he’s providing, both on and off the court.
“I’m just grateful for him as a person, you know?” Jaylon Tyson said. “Obviously, he’s a hell of a basketball player. I see it. But he’s taught me so much. ... I’m blessed to be able to call him a teammate.”
Maintaining the balance for an 82-game season is Mitchell’s immediate challenge. Not settling. Not overcompensating. Not shying away from who he is. Not forcing shots. Not going into hero mode. Finding a way to get the most out of himself and his teammates in each matchup.
He’s navigating a learning curve, guiding the Cavs through each lesson with the vision that every step brings them closer to their ultimate goal.
“We’re lucky to have Don,” Atkinson said. “He’s very empathetic, and your leader understands the growing pains of being young, and that’s important ... he’s one of those stars that elevates the whole team really because, and not just his on-court play but just how he leads in the locker room.
“He doesn’t have an ego. He’s at the point in his career where he just wants to win, so he’s doing anything to help the other guy. Sometimes he can almost defer too much. Sometimes I’ve got to check him – you’ve got to be a little more aggressive, a little more selfish.”
Mitchell is not only playing like one of the best guards in the league. He is becoming one of the best leaders in basketball. If the Cavs manage to go further than they ever have with this group, it will be because their star figured out how to be everything they needed while also becoming exactly who he needed to be.
This is his masterpiece. And the work is still in progress.
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