Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Love, Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio, LeBron James

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Cavaliers beat writer Chris Fedor share behind-the-scenes intel on the Donovan Mitchell trade. Plus, updates on extension talks for Caris LeVert, Kevin Love’s future, whether LeBron James could return to Cleveland again, Ricky Rubio’s return, and more on the latest edition of the HoopsHype podcast.

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1:30 Donovan Mitchell trade

Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Scotto: Let’s start by looking at this for the Cavaliers that left. Ideally, Collin Sexton’s camp wanted $20 million annually. Getting $18 million annually is a win overall for a guy that missed most of last season with a torn meniscus. From what I heard, Cleveland was not willing to go above the luxury tax or move assets like a draft pick of some kind to shed Cedi Osman’s salary theoretically to pay Sexton closer to that $18 million annual range. In the end, with Sexton prepared to take the qualifying offer for this season and unrestricted free agency looming next summer, Cleveland didn’t want to lose him for nothing. By including Sexton in the Donovan Mitchell trade, it worked out well for both slides.

Cleveland’s going to have to replace some shooting with the losses of Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji. There are a boatload of draft picks going to Utah, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal since the Cavaliers are projected to be a playoff team for years to come. Utah appears to be banking on Mitchell opting out of his deal after three seasons and not wanting to stay in Cleveland long-term, or else those unprotected draft picks and pick swaps in the years to come won’t have as much value.

Cleveland now has four potential guys in…