Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell Named Eastern Conference Player Of The Week
Cavaliers' guard Donovan Mitchell was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday for Week 9 games in the NBA from December 12th through December 18th.
Mitchell led the Cavaliers to a pair of wins over Dallas and a comeback victory over the Indiana pacers to help the Wine and Gold win three out its last four games. All three wins came against teams with winning records.
The sixth-year guard averaged 32.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting .539 from the field, .425 from three-point range and .882 from the foul line to earn the honor for the week.
It's the fourth time that Mitchell has earned the honor in his career. He becomes 65th Cavalier to ever win the weekly honor, including the first time this season.
Mitchell is averaging a career-best 29.5 points (eighth best in NBA) on career highs in field goal percentage (.503), three-point percentage (.424) and free throw percentage (.889).
Prior to Monday night's game against Mitchell's former team, the Utah Jazz, Cavaliers' head coach J.B. Bickerstaff talked about the trade that acquired Mitchell over the summer and that the caliber of person Mitchell is weighed just as heavily into the decision to pull the trigger as the caliber of player he is.
"I would love people to understand what type of human being he is," Bickerstaff said. "He's an unbelievable person to be around every day. Ups, downs, roundabouts, eight game winning streak, five game losing streak. He never changed. And he was always up-lifting. He was always positive. And he's always thinking about other people first."
Mitchell has helped lead the Cavs' to a 20-11 record, which is the third-best mark in the Eastern Conference and the franchise’s best 31-game start since 2017-18 (23-8).
Bickerstaff has gone on the record saying that he believe Mitchell should be included in any early-season MVP chatter because of his impact on the organization. He acknowledged it was difficult to part with former No. 8 overall pick Collin Sexton and 7-foot sharpshooter Lauri Markkanen in the trade, who Bickerstaff credited for laying the foundation of the culture and success the organization is enjoying now.
"When you have an opportunity, as heartbreaking as it can be because of the relationships that you have with guys to add someone of Donovan's class, you know, you can't really afford to say no," Bickerstaff said. "It was difficult, obviously because of the relationships. But, you know, his talent level and the background of the type of person that he was, that's something that you just can't turn down."
The Cavs' host the Utah Jazz Friday evening at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Sexton will not play in his return to Cleveland because of a hamstring injury, but Markkanen is expected to be in the lineup.
The pair will be acknowledged to the crowd in attendance at some point in the evening.
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