Donovan Mitchell calls for ‘letting go of last season’ amid early season lull

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ All-Star duo of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley was peppered with questions in the locker room after the team came from behind 108-100 over a struggling Memphis Grizzlies group. So much has been written and said about it the Cavs’ early season struggles amid injuries, flat performances and going back to last season, but not wavering in their belief.

“Just remember your identity, remember who you are and know that some plays aren’t going to go your way,” Mobley told ClutchPoints in the postgame scrimmage. “And you’ve just got to keep taking each game, game by game, and each game, game by game, and not get down on yourself early.”

“Sometimes we do something right and the ball will just go back into their hands, they score and we get down on ourselves. In the second half, that happened less and kept our energy more steady.”

Mobley defined that identity as a team defense. Mitchell is right with him on that idea, stressing the importance of grabbing the boards after stops like they did as the NBA’s best rebounding defensive unit in the playoffs this spring.

Last year’s offense was firing on all cylinders during the regular season, especially after a 15-0 start to the campaign and two more hitting streaks of that magnitude. This time, it wasn’t so cut and dry. Mitchell understands the questions about who the Cavs are as a team, but compared to where they were before, he’s moved on.

“I think we have to let last year go,” Mitchell said. “I think we’re sitting here like, ‘Oh, this was last year.’ This is a completely different season. Everyone around us got better. It’s a different season. I think we have to give up everything: ‘Well, last year it was this.’ It’s not the same, is it? You know what I mean? There are different roles, different things. There are guys that are hurt, guys in, guys out. There are so many different things.”

“We have to let go of last year.”

Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley reflect on this version #Cavs — what their identity is, how the team is dealing with early adversity and where things stand nearly a month into the season. pic.twitter.com/z5lVI716Cu

— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) November 16, 2025

Inconsistencies in lineups usually lead to inconsistencies in performance. Entering Saturday, Cleveland fielded 20 different starting fives and eight different starting fives. There’s no excuse for a night like Thursday, or even the way Saturday was, but the reasoning is valid.

“We didn’t necessarily put it together, and that’s up to this group,” Mitchell said. “We can’t sit here and say, ‘Well, last year we did this.’ You are not the same person as you were last year. It’s natural. Things are changing. So how do we as this group find a way to find our identity? We have things that can stay the same.

“As far as comparing and contrasting, I don’t think we’re doing that in this locker room, but I think overall, it’s not last year. We’re going to build the way we’re supposed to build. It’s not pretty right now. Unfortunately, it’s not. We know that. We’re going to work on it and we’re going to get better. We’ve got to do it, step by step, how to do it. quarter.”

As much as it hurts Cavs fans to see the losses, the players are fully aware that they are missing general floor in Dario Garland and a high-octane powerhouse in Max Struss. Mobley is being asked to do a lot and take another leap. They’ve also been missing Jaylon Tyson recently, whose rebounding and hustle were key until he suffered a concussion on Monday.

“We’re relying on guys to do different things that we didn’t have to do last year,” Mitchell said. “Everything is going to be different, but at the end of the day, we’re a stop-and-run team, we get 3s and we attack the paint. But it’s different now because we’re not fully there as a group. These guys mean a lot to us, and there’s going to be bumps in the road…Obviously, we’ve got two more catalysts that are right for me to do more. Evan, more about Dre (Hunter), more about Zo (Ball), but it’s all going to come together and we just have to keep building.”

“What’s different is, like I keep saying, last year we won 64 games healthy,” the Cavs head coach said Kenny Atkinson he told ClutchPoints in his pregame press conference. “It’s kind of a baseline, and your identity is different. The chess pieces have changed, so you have to move some things around. So that’s part of it.”

While there are moments where we see flashes of a deadly attack that lead to massive success, more often than not it was stuck in the mud. This resulted in long jumps for the faster teams and easy fast break opportunities that hampered the wine and gold.

Atkinson noted ahead of the game that their last opponents were ranked high in the league in terms of pace. They often fell behind Cleveland too easily, leading to turnovers even in half-court situations. It would also help if the Cavs knocked down some shots to limit those open lanes for the opposition.

“We have strategies to combat that,” Atkinson said before the game. “I think if teams are going to leak and run out, you punish them by being on the offensive boards. I think we’ve done that. I think we’re second, elite now in the possession game, we’re getting a lot of offensive rebounds. We’re going to continue to do that. That’s our identity.

“But we can do a better job in transition. The only thing that bothers the coaches is when we give up layups in transition. We can take some 3s or wing 3s or 3s, but the ones that get you are the easy ones, and Toronto had a bunch of them, so we have to fix that. They just outplayed us.”

Donovan Mitchell: The Cavs will be better off in the postseason because they’re dealing with adversity now

The Cavs used desperation to dig themselves out of a hole against the Grizzlies on Saturday, which should at least serve as an example that they can dig themselves out of this rut.

“That says a lot,” Mobley said. “You just have to remember that our defense is our identity and keep at it. So it always gives us a chance because the offense isn’t always going to be there. And from there, I think the sky’s the limit.”

Mitchell added that Cleveland went through mental fatigue and a funk to emerge victorious. This was the second game of a six-game homestand, and they are in the midst of playing every other day next week. The boys are tired, the matches are still coming, and they are forced to find a way in mid-November.

“I just think you’re going through a lull in the season,” Atkinson said. “This is an early lull. I thought (Saturday) we were going to come out with much, much more energy. We didn’t. So I say just give these guys a little more rest. We’re going to practice a little later (Sunday). People can sleep, tuck their legs under them. I thought, cognitively, we weren’t there.

“I’ll get a better understanding of this when I watch the tape and see how we could have done better. But, yeah, we’ve got to get our juice back.”

In Mitchell’s eyes, dealing with this tough situation will go a long way in helping the Cavs prepare for the postseason.

“When you win every game and you don’t lose, and you don’t feel the loss, you don’t feel what you felt after Game 2 until the second game, then where do you learn from? I think that’s why we benefit from these scenarios,” Mitchell said. We will keep winning and keep playing better. But I think the losses to teams you shouldn’t lose to and the wins in Miami, where we’re all out there and our young guys are raising their game, we need those things because when you get to those moments, you don’t feel alienated. So I am very optimistic about what we are doing and we will do well.

“When you come in and play different lineups and different guys, it takes time. It’s 14 games. I wish we were a little bit ahead of it, but we’re not. We’ve got to get better. That’s what (Sunday’s) film session is going to be about. You don’t have anything to hang on your head. I’d rather get through this now.”