CLEVELAND, Ohio — Donovan Mitchell is running on fumes, and the Cavaliers have no reliable Plan B.
“Donovan’s exhausted. Just going to tell you that right now,” said Chris Fedor, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter. “You could tell in the second half he looked exhausted. He wasn’t running at the same speed. He looked worn down physically because of all the attention that he was getting from the Charlotte Hornets.”
This exhaustion manifested in Mitchell’s eight turnovers, a number far too high for a player forced to shoulder the responsibilities of primary scorer and de facto point guard. With Darius Garland sidelined by a toe injury for at least the next two weeks and sharpshooter Sam Merrill still recovering from a sprained hand, the Cavaliers’ offensive options have dwindled dramatically.
What makes this situation particularly frustrating is that this wasn’t supposed to happen. The Cavaliers made offseason moves specifically designed to provide Mitchell with support and allow him to conserve energy.
The acquisition of Lonzo Ball was meant to give Cleveland another ballhandler who could organize the offense and create advantages. Instead, Ball was a non-factor on Wednesday, not even playing against his brother LaMelo on ESPN.
“That’s part of the pain of Lonzo just not even being playable on a night that it was rivalry night against his little brother LaMelo,” Fedor explained. “Lonzo was supposed to take some of those ball handling responsibilities. Lonzo was supposed to help organize the offense. Lonzo was supposed to initiate some things so that maybe Donovan could be off the ball.”
The Cavs’ other key offseason addition, De’Andre Hunter, was equally disappointing. Hunter became virtually unplayable in the second half against Charlotte, making “baffling plays on the offensive end” and “looking lost” defensively, according to podcast host Ethan Sands.
This has left Cleveland scrambling for solutions.
Kenny Atkinson turned to rookie Nae’Qwan Tomlin for defensive energy, while Craig Porter Jr. and Jaylon Tyson have shown flashes but remain unproven as reliable secondary creators. Evan Mobley, who should be Mitchell’s primary support, disappeared offensively in the second half, taking just two shots after a promising start.
“The person who is impacted the most by that has been Donovan, and I think it’ll continue to be Donovan,” Fedor said of Ball’s absence from the rotation.
What makes this situation even more alarming is that Mitchell entered this season claiming to be in the best shape of his career. Yet he’s already showing signs of fatigue that could spell disaster for the Cavaliers’ playoff aspirations.
“And to your point about Donovan Mitchell being exhausted, this isn’t the first time he’s either looked or said that he’s been exhausted in fourth quarters this year \[and it happened\] against the Charlotte Hornets, man,” Sands pointed out.
As the Cavaliers look ahead to matchups against the Sacramento Kings and Orlando Magic, Atkinson may need to embrace an uncomfortable reality: this team might have to win ugly until they get healthy. That could mean leaning more heavily on defense-oriented lineups and accepting that offensive struggles may continue.
“I just wonder if like for the next couple of weeks, no matter who it’s against, if this is just kind of like the Cavs current reality,” Fedor mused. “Is Kenny going to continue to use some more defense heavy lineups? That’s what he did at the start of the game.”
Until Garland returns or someone else emerges as a reliable offensive initiator, Mitchell will continue to carry a burden that appears increasingly unsustainable.
For a team with championship aspirations, the window to find solutions is closing quickly, with the playoffs looming just months away.
Here’s the podcast for this week: