Donovan Mitchell sounds off on Cleveland Cavaliers' 2025-26 struggles

On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Toronto Raptors in tough fashion, 126-113.

The start of the 2025-26 campaign has been riddled with inconsistencies as the team allowed forward Scottie Barnes to record a near triple double with 28 points. They also let Toronto dominate the shooting splits, leading the Cavaliers by nearly 10% with a 55.7% completion mark on the night.

The Raptors also had their way on the glass, out rebounding Cleveland 43-37 in total, while also playmaking at an elite level with 37 total assists.

With Cleveland falling to Toronto for the second time this season and dropping to an 8-5 record, you'd expect to hear frustrations from the players. However, that wasn't the case on Thursday.

Superstar guard Donovan Mitchell welcomed what these challenges provide the team.

“Hate to sound like a sicko but this is great," Mitchell said. "Last year, we were never mentally tested. The sky’s not falling. These are great tests for us and good thing to learn from. We’re not worried as a group.”

Donovan Mitchell over the last six games:

32.5 PPG
6.3 RPG
6.3 APG
1.7 SPG
47.0% FG
38.4% 3P
93.5% FT
34.8 MPG pic.twitter.com/OlSWSzsbLk
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 14, 2025

On the season, Mitchell is up to an impressive clip of 30.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists a night on average. He's also putting up shooting splits of 50% from the field and 38.9% from three-point range.

It's not displayed in his numbers, but the six-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection has been very effective in his multi-level scoring. He's driven to the hoop, pulled up in transition and knocked down baskets from just about every spot on the floor.

But the issue isn't with on-court play.

Its actually being on the court.

The Cavaliers have not been healthy the entire season. They've been without Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley due to load management, Darius Garland and Max Strus due to offseason surgeries, a concussion to Jaylon Tyson, knee injuries to De'Andre Hunter and Sam Merrill and countless other small nicks to players.

“We just came in and everybody’s kind of tired and you could see that," guard Craig Porter Jr. said. "But it’s not an excuse for us to give that level of effort, and we all know that. And that’s one thing we emphasize, just making sure we play hard every night, regardless of who’s out there.”

With these issues, no one has been able to get comfortable on the court this early in the season and develop any on-court chemistry.

Despite the setbacks, the Cavaliers remain confident that their ceiling is far higher than what they've shown, these sentiments echoed by Mitchell. The belief within the building is that once this team can get fully healthy, the consistency and identity they've been building throughout the offseason will start to naturally flow.

“We’ve had blowouts,” Mitchell said. “We’ve had come-from-behind wins. We’ve had given up a lead and still won. We’ve had, where we’ve just given up the lead, and like tonight, you know what I mean? There’s different things and you’re learning so much.”

Right now, Cleveland's getting battle tested well ahead of the postseason.

Mitchell and the Cavaliers next hit the court on Saturday, Nov. 15, against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies enter the game with a 4-9 record with their fair share of bumps in the road throughout the season.

The two sides will clash from Rocket Arena with tip-off slated for 5:00 p.m.