NBA insider pours fuel on Donovan Mitchell-to-Miami Heat rumors

Recent words from NBA insider Zach Lowe have poured fuel on trade rumors regarding Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell and the Miami Heat.

“[Alan] Hahn will talk about Brooklyn,” Lowe said regarding Mitchell. “Miami, to me, is the other team to watch. They’re always hunting around. They’ve been connected with Mitchell over the years. They’re lurking, and they have a lot of stuff to offer in terms of picks and young players.”

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst also said recently that the Heat are one of three teams expected to line up for Mitchell this summer.

Mitchell enjoyed one of the most productive seasons of his NBA career in his second season in Cleveland. During the 2023-24 regular season, he averaged 26.6 points (the second-most of his pro career), 5.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and a career-high 1.8 steals per contest on 46.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point range.

The 27-year-old also made the fifth All-Star appearance of his NBA career earlier this year, an impressive feat considering he is still a ways away from his 30th birthday.

Mitchell is regarded as one of the best offensive players in the NBA, and he is fresh off one of the top scoring seasons in franchise history in terms of scoring average. He averaged the ninth-most points per game in franchise history, and LeBron James is the lone player to average more points per contest in a single season with the Cavaliers.

The guard scored the ball at an even higher level during the Cavaliers’ short stint in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, as his scoring average rose to 29.6 points per game on 47.6 percent accuracy from the floor and 35.4 percent from deep.

If the Heat would have had Mitchell during their first-round series against the Boston Celtics a few weeks back, perhaps the final outcome of that series would have been different. After all, without Jimmy Butler in the lineup, scoring was the Heat’s Achilles heel against Boston.

Across five playoff games, Miami scored just 92.2 points per contest as a team and converted only 32.9 percent of its shots from deep.

A trio of Mitchell, Butler and Bam Adebayo would arguably stack up well against any other threesome in the league in terms of talent, but it’s worth considering the possibility that Miami’s depth would probably be depleted after dealing for a player of Mitchell’s ability.