When will Donovan Mitchell become a free agent? Taking closer look at Cavs star’s contract situation

Donovan Mitchell is preparing for the start of training camp for the new season and has his sights set on a deep playoff run with the Cleveland Cavaliers after a disappointing first-round exit last year. Mitchell is set to stay wit the franchise for at least one more year, as he is still under the lucrative contract he signed with the Utah Jazz before getting traded.

Mitchell signed a max contract extension with the Jazz in November 2020 at the rookie scale of five years and $163 million. The new deal started in the 2021-22 season, and the All-Star guard is now on his third year.

Donovan Mitchell will have a salary of $32,6 million this season, which will increase to $34,8 million next year. These are the guaranteed years of the deal he signed back in 2020. In the 2025 offseason, Mitchell will have a decision to make.

He will either pick up his player option, worth $37,1 million, and will become a free agent in the summer of 2026 or he will decline it and will hit free agency in 2025.

With that in mind, he will hit free agency in either two or three years from now. In the meantime, his status with the Cavs will determine his extension eligibility and the offers he could receive. Let's take a closer look at that.

Donovan Mitchell and Cavs are not yet worried about their partnership's future

Donovan Mitchell could discuss a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers as early as this summer. But, he is not in rush to do so and so is Cleveland.

According to NBA Insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the All-Star guard and the Cavs should engage in extension talks next year, which will determine his future with the team.

"This (supermax) is off the table because he got traded. I do not expect him to sign an extension with the Cavs this summer," Windhorst said while appearing on the NBA Today show. "Nor do I expect that to cause a major alarm. I expect to get this into next year. But the way he handles this is important."

He continued:

"How Donovan (Mitchell) answers that question and explans his decision process will be very important to the Cleveland Cavaliers, their fans and potentially other teams out there woho could pursue a trade for Mitchell."

After his trade, Donovan Mitchell became ineligible for a supermax deal. Thus, what Cleveland could offer him would be a deal at the scale of five years, worth a total of $259,5 million. In that scenario, the All-Star guard would need to pick up his player option. If he decided to become a free agent, though, things would change, as he would become eligible for a five-year, $372 million extension.

Based on his player option decision, the new contract would start either in the 2025-26 season or a year later (2026-27). That being said, the extension talks between the two sides next summer will be important, as the Cavs could make him available for a trade if there is no agreement.

From his part, Donovan Mitchell wants to fight for the title and wants to see if the Cavs are the right team for him. If not, he could ask for a move to another contender, with the New York Knicks as a likely candidate.