Donovan Mitchell 'Not Shocked' He's Not Included in NBA MVP Convo Despite Cavs Record

The Cleveland Cavaliers (60-15) have the second best record in the NBA and are led by star guard Donovan Mitchell, who is averaging 24 points, 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.

Those are solid numbers, and generally players on elite teams in the sport garner some level of MVP conversation. This year, however, Mitchell is a bit of an afterthought in a debate centered around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić, which doesn't surprise him in the least.

"I'm not shocked. Because my numbers, my usage, is not as high," he told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. "I came into the season understanding if we took this approach, that would be the sacrifice. Do I feel like I'm (part of that conversation)? Hell, yeah. But understanding I don't have the ball in my hands every single possession. And look where we are because of that. That, to me, is going to translate to winning."

The Cavs have a lot of mouths to feed. Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and De'Andre Hunter, among others, need to be incorporated into the offense on a nightly basis. And the team's balanced approach has clearly paid dividends.

But it has kept Mitchell from being a serious consideration in MVP conversations. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.8 points and 6.4 assists per game for the best team in the sport, taking 21.8 shots per contest (Mitchell averages 18.6) with a usage rate of 33.6 percent (Mitchell sits at 29.9 percent).

Jokić is averaging a literal triple-double for the season (29.7 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 10.2 APG) and puts up 19.6 shots per contest, though he has the lowest usage rate of the three (28.6 percent).

The advanced stats distinctly favor Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander as well. The former has a player impact estimate of 20.6, while Gilgeous-Alexander isn't far behind at 20.1. Mitchell has a more modest 13.7.

ESPN, meanwhile, has Jokić tops in the NBA in its player efficiency rating at 32.47, while Gilgeous-Alexander is second at 30.97 and Mitchell is 28th at 20.85.

Perhaps Mitchell's counting stats and MVP candidacy would be bolstered by more usage, though it's hard to imagine many players impacting the game in the way that Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić or even Giannis Antetokounmpo (who has also become an MVP afterthought but is having a fantastic season) currently are.

Either way, Mitchell has bigger fish to fry.

"I think that's how you associate the MVP, with high numbers, high usage," he told Goodwill. "And that's not always going to be me every night, and I'm OK with that. Maybe because at the end of the day, if we go out there and win a championship, I'm not going to sit and say, 'Damn, I didn't win the MVP.'"