Cleveland Cavaliers six-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell received a lot of love in the first fan returns of 2026 NBA All-Star voting. In the league's official announcement on Monday afternoon, Mitchell is listed as the fifth-highest vote-getter in the Eastern Conference with 851,155 votes.
Behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, and Cade Cunningham, he has earned high praise from hoopheads around the NBA. That's great news for the man known as Spida, and it's well deserved. Across 30 games, Mitchell has averaged a career-high 30.2 points per game on 49.7% from the field and 39.0% from three, both personal bests.
After Cleveland's win over the Los Angeles Clippers last month, Mitchell agreed with a reporter's notion that he's playing the most complete basketball of his career and “seeing things differently” from an individual perspective. He could undoubtedly compete for a scoring title if that were at the top of his priority list; however, he wants to see his team succeed above all else.
“It's more so like, what do we need as opposed to what could I do?” Mitchell said on Nov. 8. “I just feel like my role is a little different than those guys who are [going for that accolade]. Obviously, I'm scoring at a high level, but it's not what we need to get to that ultimate point.
“At the end of the day, what does that accomplish for the group? I talk all about sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. Does that mean I don't get talked about in the same light as certain people? For sure, but that's the sacrifice. But at the end of day, you win championships, the whole discussion changes. I'm not here to just figure out the Donovan Awards. How was DG [Darius Garland]? How was Evan [Mobley]? How was JA [Jarrett Allen] and Dre [Hunter] and Max [Strus]? Like everybody down the line; it's not just going to be me out there winning a championship. We have to do this collectively. That's what it takes. I'm okay with that.”
While it's nice to see him in an MVP light and high on the All-Star board, the Cavs have relied on Mitchell way too heavily this season. But, by the same token, it's been a necessity given the laundry list of injuries, lineup inconsistencies, and poor shooting efforts. Before the guys started to get back over the last couple of weeks, Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson relayed how much those “superhero” performances have been required of Mitchell to get results.
To little fault of his own, the wine and gold sit in the middle of the pack at 17-16 in a competitive East. If the postseason were to start now, the team would be looking at a Play-In Tournament game on the road. That is a far cry from only one year ago, when the Cavs held a league-best 27-4 record and sent three All-Stars to Indiana.
Garland and Mobley were those two flanking Mitchell's side at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, boasting terrific bounce-back seasons and offensive development under Atkinson's revamped system. It's hardly been easy for either in 2025, as they've both dealt with injury problems and streaky rhythm as a result.
To this point, Garland has played 17 total games, but it's actually 16, as he had to exit a game in Miami within his first week of action following surgery. Last week was quite promising, and his numbers are starting to creep back to his usual output as a result. Still, he's playing catch-up and behind the 8-ball as far as sample size, and Maxey, Brunson, Cunningham, and Jaylen Brown have those spots on lock.
Mobley received the keys to the car at the start of the year and struggled before the Cavs began to put him in better positions to succeed. Once he got back into a flow, he suffered a calf strain and missed five games. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year's averages look the same as last year, with lower percentages. There's just too much competition at forward in the East, especially with Jalen Johnson, Michael Porter Jr., and Brandon Ingram playing the way they are.
Allen wasn't an All-Star in 2024, but he was in 2022, alongside Garland, when the event took place in Cleveland. He's dealt with a broken left ring finger since the second game of the season in Brooklyn and a strained right finger thereafter. He hasn't rebounded or scored as consistently as a result.
Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Allen have logged 64 minutes of playing time together, and their net rating is plus-24.1 points per 100 possessions. Without the rest of the Core Four on the floor, Mitchell has played 137 minutes of basketball, and Cleveland has a plus-6.6 NET.
The only member of the Cavs that we will see in Indianapolis is Mitchell, and hopefully, by that time, the team self-corrects to the point where we forget about the first two months.
