What to make of Donovan Mitchell’s response to Miami Heat report

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and forward Caleb Martin (16) defend(Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and forward Caleb Martin (16) defend(Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports)

In recent days, a report surfaced surrounding the Miami Heat and Donovan Mitchell. Speaking about his preferences when it came to potentially playing with the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler, specifically, the whole occurrence sent a shockwave throughout social media, as many didn’t and still don’t know what to believe.

Some fans took the report at face value, while others remained skeptical about its legitimacy. While it’s fair to view it as “hard to believe”, as Mitchell is a team-oriented player, it would make a little bit of sense as well.

Both Butler and Mitchell prefer the ball be in their hands to run an offense. And with that, the report wouldn’t seem too far out there, that is, until Mitchell took to social media himself to address the report.

Here was his response.

Whether the criticism of the reporting is legitimate or not, the network in question, 5 Reasons Sports Network, has established credibility, meaning you trust that they didn’t just make this up and that it was heard from a particular source.

Recent Miami Heat-based reporting on Donovan Mitchell had social media buzzing. And he didn’t help it at all, responding to the reports in short order.

However, you also can’t ignore that sometimes, there is just bad information transferred. It happens, as it’s a part of journalism.

So, while you don’t question the reporter or the reporting, the validity of said information could possibly be in question here. And that’s a fair assessment.

It did seem like a stretch from a personal perspective though. Mitchell is a team player and while he is ball-dominant, he’s made a living off playing next to other ball handlers like Mike Conley and Darius Garland.

The belief that Butler and Mitchell wouldn’t work is just blasphemy and Mitchell even knew it. Butler would easily be the best player that Mitchell has played in his entire career.

That’s, not to mention, that Butler is a selfless guy. He would much rather watch his teammates drop 30 than see himself do it.

The two are good friends as well, it seems, while they both come from the Dwyane Wade Tree that was referenced in the reporting. The last thing to note here is that nobody really knows what the truth is besides Mitchell.

He could easily be lying or could be telling the whole truth. It looks better to deny, but it would’ve looked even better to say nothing.

The trade is done, the season is near the playoffs, and it makes you wonder—what would he gain? And here, the answer seems like nothing.