Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. His backcourt teammate James Harden has made the playoffs in all 17 of his NBA seasons but has only made one Finals appearance, losing to Miami in 2012. Mitchell says both players are determined to do everything they can to win their first title.
“We’re different, right? He’s 17 years in. I’m nine,” Mitchell told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “Does a ring change the conversation around his name? Yeah. Should it change it? No. I think [Harden] should still be looked at as one of the top guards, the top players who ever played this game. But we live in a ring culture. So, does a ring change the narrative? Sure. Change the narrative to me? For sure. And same thing with Joel Embiid, right? So, there’s a level of desperation to try to change what our narratives have been.
“For me, it’s not being able to get past the second round. For [Harden] it’s changing the playoff luck. I wouldn’t call it anything else because a lot has to go right to get to that point. You can have great individual success and still lose. You could do everything you humanly possibly can and still lose, right? I think it’s just a matter of the situation. It’s a testament to [Harden] to continue to be here 17 years in a row. That’s equally as impressive. So, I don’t think that defines him, who he is or his greatness. It’s something that will give the both of us, quite frankly, something that we’ve been longing for: winning a championship.”
Spears’ story also contains a transcript of Mitchell’s latest video diary for Andscape. Mitchell grades his performance this season, discusses the team’s runway to make a deep playoff run, and more.
We have more notes from Cleveland:
- Harden believes this year’s Cavs team represents his best chance to win a title, per Joe Reedy of The Associated Press. “It’s the truth. That’s why I’m here,” Harden said about the narrative of doing everything but winning a championship. The former league MVP, who could be a free agent this summer, says he doesn’t waste time thinking about previous close calls in the playoffs. “Run up against a dynasty, injuries. It’s a part of the game, though. … I don’t dwell on it. I don’t think back. It’s a part of it. It’s life,” Harden said. “I’m sure we all could look at ourselves and think about certain things that happened over the course of our life that just didn’t go our way and feel bad about it, feel sad about it. I don’t think like that. I just keep pushing.”
- How the Cavaliers fare in the playoffs will play a major role in their potential offseason moves, as Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. While Cleveland shed some payroll ahead of the trade deadline, the Cavs were still the only NBA team that operated over the second tax apron in 2025/26 and project to be over that threshold again in ’26/27, Katz notes. Harden is expected to decline his player option for next season in search of a new deal, a source tells Katz.
- Eric Koreen, Jason Lloyd, Zach Powell and Joe Vardon of The Athletic share their takeaways from Saturday’s Game 1 home victory over the Raptors, with Koreen noting that Toronto struggled to contain Mitchell and Harden, who combined for 54 points, 14 assists, five rebounds and four steals.
2nd half the Cavs were the better team. I still don’t trust fat harden and Mitchell isn’t really a superstar in my eyes. He’s a very good player but he’s not a needle mover. Mobley will make them dangerous no doubt. Max was great today. Raptors need all the breaks going there just to have a chance. Good team but not in the elite status just yet.
Mitchell dominates when he’s the smartest and most athletic player on the floor. Often times, he is. Brunson succeeds in much the same way, with a little less explosiveness and a good bit more grind and grit through challenges.
Mitchell can be successful, but he’s faced tough roads in the West and often hasn’t had enough scoring help. He can’t be scoring 40+ every game and making plays. Plus other teams could often focus in on him. Having Harden is quite the twist for him. Garland helped unlock a lot of offense and provide an extra threat but the two didn’t play off one another quite as smoothly. Harden can make scoring easier for everyone on the floor, involving them and frustrating the other team. He softens up the defense for Mitchell and his relentless attack drives.
Raptors have to unleash CMB to fill in a lot of gaps with hustle and strength on the team. RJ is not to be trusted in the second half driving into traffic or making plays, Barnes can’t be the primary ball handler all the time and BI loves his tough shots and the team avoided him. Other than missing a strong floor general and enough big men and usually missing enough shooting (but had strength there in this contest while not enough good playmaking), they can get back in the series by addressing many issues.
Sneaking Joel embiid into that conversation is crazy. Donovan and Harden are legit greats. Embiid is only at the top of the rehab leaderboards.