Donovan Mitchell noncommittal about Cavaliers

Don’t delete those photoshops of NBA star Donovan Mitchell wearing a Knicks or Nets jersey just yet.

A day after Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert expressed optimism that Mitchell would eventually sign an extension and stay in Cleveland for years to come, Mitchell deflected a question when given the opportunity to double its future.

“I think the most important thing for me, as I told you before… my goal is that I have a lot of things to focus on outside of this (contract negotiation) in this moment,” Mitchell said Friday night after returning from a six-game absence to lead a win over the 76ers. “I have to focus on myself, come back for this group, focus on making this stretch, continue to be ready when the time comes.

“So I’ll deal with it when it happens.” And I understand that you need to ask this question. And I’ll give you the same answer.

Mitchell was signed through the 2025-26 season, but is eligible for a four-year extension worth approximately $200 million after this season.

The New York native is in the middle of his second season with the Cavaliers, who acquired him in a trade with the Jazz after months of speculation that he might end up returning home.

“We’ve been talking with him, of course, for a couple of years about extending this contract,” Gilbert told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We think he will extend. I think if you listen to him talk, he loves the city.

“He likes the situation in Cleveland because our players are very young and we are just putting together the core of which he is clearly the biggest part.”

The Cavaliers and Gilbert were burned by local star LeBron James leaving twice as a free agent and Kyrie Irving forcing a trade, although James and Irving teamed up in 2016 to end the 52-year drought years of Cleveland championships in all four major sports.

Mitchell’s teammate, Georges Niang, also previously said that he expected Mitchell to stay with the Cavaliers.

“I thought George said I was going to the Mets,” Mitchell reportedly joked.

Mitchell’s father, Donovan Sr., is a Mets front office executive.

The Knicks beat Mitchell’s Cavaliers in the first round of last year’s playoffs and the two teams are battling for the third seed in the Eastern Conference throughout this season.