It’s odd to be writing five games into a season, but it appears there may be a little underlying tension between two Cavaliers teammates. There have been instances between them in two of their games already, and it might be a developing trend.

If you haven’t caught on yet, the two guys being discussed here are Donovan Mitchell and Mario Hezonja. Two of the most important members of the team, who each bring so much to both the floor and locker room, do not seem to be clicking all that well.

Let’s talk about these two plays, because the latter first was one of the differences in the loss to the Hawks.

Donovan Mitchell Took The Ball Away From His Teammate

It’s not ideal when a pass is coming your way and it doesn’t make it. Not because the defender steals the rock, but because it’s your teammate. Now, it did not seem like an intentional decision from Donovan Mitchell, but it still happened. 

Jaylon Tyson was running in transition and looking to find Mario Hezonja in the corner, and instead, Mitchell wound up taking the pass. He was a bit close to that space, and wound up taking it, a little too close to its intended target. The shot wound up falling off, as he was just 1-9 from 3PT for the day amidst an off day. It was not the best PR day for the guard. On a day too, where they lost by just three points.

Hezonja meanwhile, had 10 points on 4-6 FG (2-3 3PT) and six rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

Here’s the thing, though. As the team was battling back, it did seem that the ball was not moving as much as it could have. Mitchell only dished out two assists. While it is not necessarily his job to be the team’s main facilitator (that’s James Harden), it's not great. When the guy who has the ball in his hands that much isn’t dropping dimes on the off-shooting days, it spells something else.

Perhaps it’s trying to be the hero, and not trying to make the right basketball play. Whatever it is, the video is above. Decide for yourself.

The Other Play: Opening Night

The end of the third quarter of the Sixers game on opening night saw the first Donovan Mitchell-Mario Hezonja moment. Late in the period, the Croatian forward grabbed the rebound and brought the ball ahead. He had a much smaller defender in Anfernee Simons on him.

Ordinarily, Mitchell has the ball in his hands at the end of quarters. He takes those shots, and often makes them. But in this case, it was a 6’9 forward with a situation to score against a much smaller guy. He waived #45 off. As the video anove shows, Hezonja made the shot. And even had a statement about the situation after the game:

“"There are five of us on the court, you need to be able to read these kinds of mismatches correctly."

This was Hezonja’s first NBA game since 2020. But the ball should find the best situation sometimes. 

Onwards And Upwards

It is certainly concerning that this has happened twice, once to each player in this brief period. But, hopefully the noise will die down and the two will talk behind closed doors to solve things. 

The season is long, and the less distraction, the better.