Donovan Mitchell Changes Cavaliers' Short And Long-Term Expectations

After a non-stop ride on NBA Twitter, we finally have an end to the Donovan Mitchell roller coaster.

He's headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji are on their way to Utah, along with three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps according to reports.

The Cavs' win total jumped from 42.5 to 45.5 at FanDuel right after the deal came out.

Hope you bought into their potential this season before the trade went down because things are different now in Cleveland.

Quick Line Movement

PointsBet quickly went and moved Cleveland from 80-1 to win the NBA title, to 30-1, and from 40-1 to 12-1 to win the East, and other books have made similar quick adjustments. Cleveland is now +1600 to win the East, the sixth-best odds, at FanDuel, while BetMGM has them +3000 to win the title. DraftKings also moved them to +400 after sitting at +1000 to win the Central Division.

More odds will pop back up as they're adjusted, with tons of different-looking markets around this team. There's a new reality in the Cavs organization though, it's no longer about just being a fun up-and-coming team anymore.

The Cavaliers now have their highest expectations since LeBron James was last in Cleveland, and they're all-in on competing now.

Where Do They Stack Up Now?

Realistically, this is a team that should have their eyes on home-court advantage early in the playoffs next spring. They're not a title contender just yet, but that doesn't mean we won't see them make a deep playoff run. The Grizzlies are a great example of a young team that just burst into something far better than what was expected last year, and it could certainly happen again.

They're not ready to be looked at as a team that's above the Celtics or Bucks, with the Heat still getting the benefit of the doubt too, even though they may have peaked last year.

The Nets and Sixers are in their own little box, with the talent to win a title, but the chemistry of a bad reality show when they're together.

Cleveland was 10th in the NBA ATS last year (53.8 percent), with early-on surprise wins showing they had clearly clicked, and the market adjusting as the season went on.

Adding an All-Star in Mitchell to a core that still has Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen is a huge boost, but that also means they have to figure each other out once they get to camp.

The Cavs made the right decision going all-in, and it's built up not just a short-term blueprint, but something long-term as well.

The talent is there, now it all just has to come together on the court, and if it does, expect to see Cleveland right in the thick of it with the rest of the contenders for years to come.