‘Our ceiling is higher’: Donovan Mitchell opens up about James Harden-Darius Garland trade

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — After hours of speculation turned into truth, Donovan Mitchell and his newest Cavs co-star, James Harden, got on the phone.

It was Tuesday night.

That call started with the usual small talk.

Mitchell and Harden talked about family. They talked about the early days working out together in the offseason. Even brought up some old, heated on-court battles that are now a thing of the past.

Then they got into a detailed hoops conversation, focusing on their shared, insatiable quest for an NBA championship — the reason Mitchell wanted Harden to become a Cavalier ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

And, finally, they expressed belief in what they can do.

Together.

“We both want the same thing. We both want a championship,” Mitchell told cleveland.com following Wednesday’s 124-91 trouncing of the Clippers, Harden’s former team. “I think it’s going to be special. I think it’s going to be scary to deal with. But it’s going to take time and we’re going to have to continue to build and get better and have those tough conversations.”

There have been mixed emotions over the last 24 hours. It’s natural when a trade occurs. But the overriding feeling in the Cleveland locker room is enthusiasm.

How could it not be?

For all his flaws, including a spotty playoff record, Harden is an 11-time All-Star who probably should have received another nod this year, averaging 25.4 points on 41.9% from the field, including 34.7% from 3-point range to go with 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds while helping resuscitate the Clippers after a wretched 6-21 start.

He is a durable, reliable, mature offensive wizard whose spellbinding powers create magic and manipulate opponents.

“Our ceiling is higher,” Mitchell said pointedly. “We all know what he brings. But with that, there is an expectation of what we have to do. We weren’t able to get it done for the past three years and now the goal is to try to get it done. This is the time. Gotta go out and do it.”

With the NBA’s highest payroll, a ticking clock tied to Mitchell’s contract (only one more guaranteed year remaining and a player option for 2027-28) and Finals-or-bust pressure, team-decision makers made an unemotional and no-excuses assessment of their roster in the weeks leading up to the deadline. They determined that standing pat was a non-starter.

The roster wasn’t good enough and there were lingering questions about the collective readiness to compete for a title. Many of those questions centered around Garland.

They don’t exist with Harden.

“I think it gives you confidence,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said when asked about the Harden addition. “It’s a statement to the coach and the players by ownership and the front office that we are doing everything in our power to get this team to the mountaintop. It takes some real gumption, fortitude and strength in what you believe to take a swing like that. I think the guys love that we took another swing to get better.”

Atkinson, who immediately called mentor Mike D’Antoni when the trade was finalized and watched countless film clips of Harden in Clippers coach Ty Lue’s system, referred to the future Hall-of-Famer as one of the best passers of all time and one of the greatest pick and roll players ever.

Two staples of Atkinson’s system.

“He’s like one of Mike’s favorite players,” Atkinson explained. “Obviously, James had a lot of success with him. We talked about tactics. The best way to use him. All that stuff. Definitely leaning on colleagues and I’m going to keep diving deeper. James has been great with the Clippers. But I do think with Mike and that Houston team, it was kind of the pinnacle of his powers. Be foolish not to talk to Mike, not to go back and look at those Houston years and see what we can implement. James gives us a different dimension, and his resume speaks for itself.”

There’s also one critical similarity between Cleveland and some of those Houston iterations: Harden sharing the backcourt with another high-usage, ball-dominant powerhouse — a partnership with Chris Paul that nearly led to Harden’s second career Finals appearance.

Now Harden has a new sidekick. It’s Mitchell.

Will their styles blend? Will it be the right fit?

“I’ve played off the ball before,” Mitchell said. “But it’s also an understanding that you can play two different styles. You can play the isolation, pick-and-roll style, which James has been phenomenal at. Then you can play like we did tonight, with consistent movement.

“So, what are you going to do? If he’s on the ball in pick and roll and I’m standing over there, away from the ball, what do you do? It’s really a pick-your-poison situation. But it’s not necessarily just a stagnant type of basketball. It can be and it can be effective. But with somebody who thinks the game like he does, he can get guys in rhythm, get guys involved, get guys moving, there’s a lot there.

“I think once we all find where our comfort zone is in different areas, that’s what will make it tough for other teams. When you add a guy like James, who knows how to play the game, the sky is the limit.”

For a team that’s overburdened Mitchell this season, in part because of an endless injury report, having another dependable creator will be advantageous — even though Atkinson admitted he’s still workshopping the grand plan.

“I think it’s too early to say how we are going to use him,” Atkinson said of Harden. “I think it’s too early to talk about that stuff right now. Get him acclimated to our organization, to the group, get his feet on the ground before we start talking about that other stuff.”

What about the Harden-Mitchell pairing?

“Great players fit together,” Atkinson responded. “Usually, it’s rare that that doesn’t work. So now it’s up to us as coaches and collaborating with Donovan and James on what that looks like, how that looks, what do the rotations look like, how we stagger them, how we play when each is alone on the court, how we play when they’re together. That’s all things to figure out. But usually when you have such talented players and I can’t emphasize this enough, high-IQ players, it makes it a heck of a lot easier for the coaching staff to figure out.

“I think with the great ones, you step back and let them be themselves.”

It took the Cavs months to look like the zippy offensive juggernaut that overwhelmed the Clippers Wednesday night — the same thing the Cavs have done to nearly every opponent during this recent heater. Wednesday was Cleveland’s ninth win in the last 11 games, vaulting into fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 31-21 record.

During this stretch, it ranks third in offensive efficiency, boasting a prolific 118.4 rating.

Now imagine what it could look like with Harden. That’s what the next few weeks, maybe months, are for, trying to incorporate a guy used to being a heliocentric force.

“We think James will elevate everyone on our team,” Atkinson said.

Still, there’s only one ball. Harden needs shots and touches. Mitchell does too. Same with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Let’s not forget newbie Dennis Schroder, ascending sophomore Jaylon Tyson and sharpshooter Sam Merrill.

It will take time. It’s a different style. Everyone is expecting short-term growing pains.

“It’s not plug-n-play,” said Mitchell, using a phrase that’s become part of his lexicon throughout this inconsistent and sometimes-turbulent season. “We know there is going to be a period where we have to adjust. But James is one of the best to ever do it. I think we both want the same things, and we both have the same goal in mind. We just want to win. So, I think we’re willing to do what it takes.”

Mitchell went through something similar four years ago — with Garland, the guy on the other end of Tuesday’s franchise-altering swap, abruptly finishing his seven-year run.

“I was at the house with my fiancée,” Mitchell said when asked about how he heard about the trade. “Obviously, we all saw what D.G. said and what [Klutch Sports CEO] Rich [Paul] said, so you kind of had an idea and kind of had an inkling, but you never know it’s real until it’s real.”

Cleveland’s new reality became apparent Wednesday night, as Garland sat courtside next to his family, in the opposite corner from the Cavaliers’ bench. His first night as a Clipper, Garland was introduced during one of the stoppages — referred to as L.A.’s newest star.

Sound familiar?

That’s a label he once had in Cleveland, before Mitchell’s arrival in 2022.

Once the Cavs put the finishing touches on a wire-to-wire 33-point romp, each member of the roster, one by one, walked over to Garland.

A few laughs. Some deep sighs. Hugs. Goodbyes.

In that moment, the palpable excitement over Harden’s impending arrival was temporarily replaced by pain.

“Sad to see him go,” Tyson said. “It still hasn’t really hit me that he’s not in this locker room. I wanted to let him know that I love him and appreciate everything he has done for me.”

The feeling is mutual.

As weird as Wednesday was, playing against the Clippers, not even 24 hours since the trade news broke, it also provided immediate closure — a chance for both sides to rip the band-aid off and allow the emotional wounds to heal.

“There’s a love there outside of just the game,” Mitchell told cleveland.com when asked about his relationship with Garland. “It’s not like (expletive) you or (expletive) you. I’m not going to lie, I see the (expletive) that is being written and being said. But it ain’t none of that. The world is going to run with what the world is going to run with. I’ve said it to you for years, we all know what we have in this locker room and that’s what makes this so fun. There’s still that bond. There always will be. Even with De’Andre [Hunter], Caris [LeVert], Georges [Niang], Ty [Jerome].

“Not many guys get traded and then want to sit there and watch their old team play. It speaks to D.G. It speaks to where he is with us and where we are with him. He will be at my wedding. We’re brothers first. Then all of this is second. It’s bigger than basketball. With me and him, it’s always love. We fell short of our goal. But it’s always going to be love.”