It is the middle of the summer and the offseason, and there is a lot of news and updates surrounding former Louisville basketball players. Ryan Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. are getting a lot of attention as the two former Cardinals were recently selected in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Brown and Conwell snapped an 11-year draft drought for Louisville, being the first pair of Cardinals drafted in the same draft since 2015. Now, the two are playing in the NBA Summer League, where Conwell is quickly turning heads, averaging 21.0 points through three games, including a dominant 26-point effort earlier this week.
Also in the news this week, Louisville basketball fans noticed former Cardinal star and legend Donovan Mitchell got a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell earns eye-popping contact extension with Cavaliers
Mitchell is known as one of the best Louisville Cardinals of all time. The former Cardinal holds multiple Louisville records in the NBA, including the most points by any Louisville Cardinal and the most NBA All-Star Game appearances by a Cardinal.
Now, Mitchell just got the bag he deserved, and when Louisville fans learned the price, their jaws nearly hit the floor. Mitchell's eye-popping contract is a four-year, $273 million maximum-salary extension. The All-NBA guard is making $60.1 million in 2027-28, $65.8 million in 2028-29, $70.6 million in 2029-30, and $75.5 million in 2030-31.
BREAKING: Cleveland Cavaliers All-NBA star Donovan Mitchell has agreed on a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension that includes a player option for the 2030-31 season and a full trade kicker, CAA's Co-Head of Basketball, Austin Brown, tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/7gfOG4n5l1
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 7, 2026
According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Mitchell showed his loyalty by signing this extension this summer. The former Cardinal signed with the Cavs on the first day he was eligible, and he could have waited until next summer, when the deal would have been worth $80 million more.
The former Cardinal has made the All-NBA three times, including the All-NBA First Team in 2025 and the All-NBA Second Team in 2023 and 2026. The dominant shooting guard has emerged as one of the best in the NBA, averaging nearly 27 points per game over his four seasons with the Cavs.
Mitchell has made the All-Star game seven consecutive times, including this past season, where he averaged 27.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. Mitchell and the Cavs reached the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this past season, marking the former Cardinals first Conference Finals appearance in his NBA career.
Mitchell played for Louisville in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and led the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament in his sophomore season. The former Cardinal was the No. 17 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft after averaging 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
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