Already one of the NBA’s most explosive guards, he’s on a superstar ascent — Boardroom breaks down the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell contract.
When the Utah Jazz inked Donovan Mitchell to a five-year, $163 million rookie max extension at 25% of the salary cap, they surely must have assumed he’d play out more than just the first season of the thing. However, NBA plans can change, and the SLC boys proceeded to blow it up and start anew, offloading not just Rudy Gobert to Minnesota, but the smooth-scoring Spida to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Koby Altman and the Cavs probably aren’t disappointed with their acquisition.
Since relocating, Spida has been toward the top of the NBA standings in scoring, field goals made per game, and specifically 3-pointers made per game. As of this writing, his 71 points on Jan. 2, 2023, against Chicago make for the highest single-game total among all active players, as well as the highest overall since Kobe Bryant dropped 81 in 2006.
That’s utterly amazing company. And with each new milestone, the deal just gets better and better for Cleveland.
With that in mind, Boardroom takes a closer look at the numbers behind the Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell contract.
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Donovan Mitchell Contract Details & Salary
All dollar figures via Spotrac.
Years: 5 (fifth year is player option)
Total value: $163,000,300
Average annual value: $35,859,950
Free agency: 2027
2021-22 salary: $28,103,500
2022-23: $30,913,750
Upcoming annual salary earnings:
2023-24: $33,162,030
2024-25: $35,410,310
2025-26: $37,096,620 player option
Spida is well-paid, to say the very least, but it must be noted that if he had made an All-NBA team in 2020-21 — the season before his extension began — its starting salary number would have escalated to 30% of the salary cap, raising its total value up above $195 million. It’s an oddity of the CBA, but the law of the land for better or for worse.
It certainly doesn’t stop him from signing a 30% veteran extension as soon as he’d be eligible following his seventh season in the league (2023-24), however.
In the meantime, expect Mitchell’s star, as well as that of the young and fearless Cleveland Cavaliers, to keep rising.
Donovan Mitchell’s Career Earnings
Salary data via Spotrac.
TOTAL NBA EARNINGS THRU 2022-23: $74,477,976
ESTIMATED SALARY EARNINGS THRU 2025-26: $179,022,996 (requires exercising player option)
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