It's been over a week since the Cleveland Cavaliers last saw Donovan Mitchell on the floor, and fans are in a tizzy. Mitchell has been sidelined with a non-COVID-related illness after chipping in 37 points, six assists, and two blocks in Cleveland's 135-130 overtime win over the Houston Rockets. While not having Mitchell has been suboptimal considering the Cavs are also without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley until 2024, Cleveland is 2-1 without Mitchell.

Thankfully, Mitchell has been traveling with the team in their latest road stops against the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks, so the Cavs probably won't have to know how hard life is without their superstar guard. But, considering that the last time Mitchell was on the floor, he was seen grabbing at his shoulder after colliding with a stanchion against Houston. Mitchell said postgame that his shoulder was fine, and he expected to play against the Utah Jazz, his former team. But fans went full-on conspiracy mode when Mitchell was listed as unavailable due to the aforementioned non-COVID-related illness.

Should Cavs fans be worried about Donovan Mitchell?

Cavs' Donovan Mitchell

Instead of Mitchell being under the weather, fans think the Cavs are lying, and Mitchell's shoulder is the secret reason he's unavailable. Well, for those still attached to reality, that's just not the case. According to the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, with Mitchell's blessing, Cleveland would have released a statement if they believed Mitchell would miss time from a possible shoulder injury.

That blessing means Mitchell has the privacy to have surgery or care done if needed and construct a recovery plan before the media cycle begins.

Either way, the Cavs likely did their due diligence, evaluated Mitchell's shoulder, found nothing seriously wrong and he is, in fact, dealing with a non-COVID-related illness. According to national infectious disease experts and pharmacy data, things are returning to a typical pre-pandemic flu season, and cases nationwide continue to climb. In all likelihood, Mitchell fell victim to the bug, and since the flu typically lasts three to seven days, he is just exiting the resting part of recovery and finding his footing back on the court.

It's again worth noting that Mitchell has been traveling with the Cavs on the road lately. Typically, injured or unavailable players don't do that, with teams electing to keep them home to rest and recover. Moreover, Mitchell wasn't seen on the bench with the team when Cleveland was at home against the Jazz or the New Orleans Pelicans or as a participant at shootaround. This further drives home the case that Mitchell was under the weather and not dealing with an injured shoulder.

So, yeah. There isn't some grand conspiracy against fans where the Cavs or Mitchell are lying about his availability. If anything, now that Mitchell is through the worst of whatever he's dealing with and spotted getting in work before Cleveland's tilt in Dallas, he should be back on the court sooner rather than later. The next chance is when the Cavs host Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks for their last game in 2023.

If Mitchell doesn't play, it isn't some grand conspiracy to lie against the fans. The NBA would've acted swiftly by now and heavily fined the Cavs as they did to the Miami Heat last season. Recovery isn't ever a linear thing, and Mitchell and his scoring acumen will be back soon enough.