Donovan Mitchell Praised by Cavs Insider for Cleveland's Success Since LeBron Left for Lakers

The Cleveland Cavaliers seemed rather lost after LeBron James left for the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2017-18 campaign, but Donovan Mitchell's arrival ahead of the 2022-23 season turned things around and restored them as contenders.

"Four years without him, in the rebuild: one play-in game," a Cavaliers source told ESPN's Dave McMenamin when discussing Mitchell. "Four years with him: four playoff appearances, three second-round appearances, a conference finals appearance."

Cleveland president of basketball operations Koby Altman traded a package that featured Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and three unprotected first-round picks to the Utah Jazz to land Mitchell in September 2022, and the team is now facing the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals and one step away from the NBA Finals with the guard leading the way.

That stands in stark contrast to the immediate aftermath following James' departure.

"When LeBron left, we just fell flat on our faces because we just weren't rooted in anything," a team source told McMenamin. "We weren't rooted in anything foundational in terms of culture or team-building or player development.

"We were just rooted in the culture of LeBron."

The Cavaliers missed the playoffs in each of the next four years during a time that coincided with the King winning a title in Los Angeles. Cleveland didn't just lose, it failed to win more than 22 games in three of those four years before Mitchell's arrival.

And now it is playing for a chance to reach the NBA Finals.

Mitchell has been an All-Star in each of his four years with Cleveland and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in three of those campaigns. He was seventh in that voting this season while averaging 27.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from deep.

There is surely some frustration in Cleveland after the team blew a 22-point lead in the first quarter of Tuesday's Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 loss to the Knicks, but comparing where it is at this point to where it was after James left puts things into perspective.

And the Cavaliers are also just one dominant Mitchell performance away in Thursday's Game 2 from stealing home-court advantage in the series.