Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have any concerns about how he and James Harden will mesh in the Cavaliers’ new starting backcourt, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I’ve never played with a guy like James Harden. I never had a guy like that on my team,” Mitchell said. “And we’re not here to figure out like who’s bigger, better or whatever. How are we going to win? And I think having that relationship helps. But it also speaks to the type of people that he and I are. We’re trying to figure what’s right. For him to go out there and say he’s trying to help me, that’s huge. That’s huge for everything. … Winning is the end all, right? I’m not worried about how we’ll fit and how we’ll coexist because we have the same goal in mind, and it doesn’t matter how we get there. We just want to get there.”
Mitchell also touched on a number of other topics in a monthly diary, including his feelings on the sad way Chris Paul‘s career ended.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Following J.B. Bickerstaff’s dismissal as head coach of the Cavaliers after the 2023/24 season, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get another opportunity, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” he said. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next.” New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon soon offered him a head coaching job within the division. He learned from his days in Cleveland how to improve in his next stop. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Rob Dillingham, a 2024 lottery selection, had trouble cracking the Timberwolves’ rotation and getting sustained minutes. After getting traded to the Bulls, Dillingham is getting a long look from coach Billy Donovan. Dillingham has averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 turnovers in 24.7 minutes per game over three appearances. “His job and responsibility is to generate shots for guys when he gets (inside) and understand the shots where he has angles and can shoot a high percentage on and the shots he can’t,” Donovan said, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times. “It’s not like I’m giving him free rein, we need him downhill, but he also can’t be jumping off two feet, getting caught in the air, trying to shoot over guys, trying to throw passes that aren’t there. He’s got to clean that up and we’ve got to help him do it. What I don’t want him to do is not be aggressive or be afraid to attack. He has to attack. He just has to make better decisions, and I think that will come in time.”
- Along with acquiring Ivica Zubac from the Clippers, the Pacers also added guard Kobe Brown in the deal. Brown was only averaging 8.7 minutes with the Clippers but could see his minutes jump the remainder of the season with Indiana. “I’m grateful, for sure. Grateful to be in this position,” he told Tony East of CircleCitySpin.com. “I feel like this team is a great team. Obviously, they were just in the Finals last year and were so close to winning it. And for them to want me here is big. So I’m happy and excited to be here and be a part of it.” Brown has played in two games with Indiana thus far, including a start against Brooklyn on Wednesday.