Donovan Mitchell drops brutally honest ‘playoff’ admission amid Cavs’ underperformance

Twenty-nine games into the 2025-26 regular season, Cleveland Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell knows the playoffs aren’t promised, but he’s hopeful his team can flip a proverbial switch that will turn things around. Despite Evan Mobley’s return, the New York Knicks handed the Cavs their fourth loss in six games on Christmas Day. At 17-15, Cleveland is only two games over .500.

Still, Mitchell says finding a collective stride that will lead to a string of wins is on the Cavs as a team, and not from an individual standpoint, he said, per Andscape

“Mentally, we got to find it. We’re 29 games in. We’re not a playoff team right now; we’re not playing like it. We have the talent, we have the group, but we’re not playing like it, and that’s on the 15 of us. We have to find it collectively. It’s not one just individual. As a group, you just gotta find it.”

“Mentally, we got to find it… We’re not a playoff team right now; we’re not playing like it. We have the talent, we have the group… We have to find it collectively.”

Donovan Mitchell on the Cavs

(via @andscape)pic.twitter.com/xAbuPPHeFB

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 27, 2025

Before facing the Knicks, Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs bounced back from a pair of losses to the Chicago Bulls with wins over the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. However, as Cleveland’s road trip heads south towards Texas, its schedule is daunting, with a matchup against the Houston Rockets, followed by a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday to conclude the Cavs’ three-game trip.

NBA insider on Kenny Atkinson’s job status with Cavs

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

While the Cavs have failed to meet expectations of a team that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last season, some wonder about the head coach’s immediate future. Is Kenny Atkinson’s future with the Cavs in limbo?

There haven’t been any signs that his job is in jeopardy. However, the pressure is on Atkinson and the Cavs to turn their season around, as NBA insider Marc Stein noted, per The Stein Line.

“I’ve been hearing rumbles in coaching circles for weeks, amazingly, that pressure is indeed mounting on Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson,” Stein reported.

However, as per Stein, a close source to the Cavs said that Atkinson is well-liked by Cavs GM Dan Gilbert and is safe, at least relative to others within the organization.

“One source close to the process, however, pushed back to The Stein Line on the idea that any dismay from Gilbert would have any immediate impact on Atkinson, noting that Gilbert had perhaps the strongest voice in Northeast Ohio backing the selection of Atkinson as J.B. Bickerstaff’s successor,” Stein concluded.

The Cavs will face the Rockets on Saturday.

The post Donovan Mitchell drops brutally honest ‘playoff’ admission amid Cavs’ underperformance appeared first on Cavs Nation.