2021 NBA Draft prospect Evan Mobley could be a star in the near future for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have done a nice job with the draft the last couple of years. The Cavs, while I expect some internal improvement, will probably be at or near the cellar of the Eastern Conference again.
The Cavs still have a ways to go with their development, while the East should be a lot better with some of the improvements other teams have made.
The Cavs have good young pieces in Collin Sexton, the club’s 2019-20 leading scorer at 20.8 points per outing, Isaac Okoro, Kevin Porter Jr. and Darius Garland. Although, I wouldn’t expect them to climb out of being one of the conference’s bottom teams this coming year.
It’s been known for a while the 2021 NBA Draft is very strong and deep into the lower part of the lottery. The prize of next year’s draft is Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham. That said, if the Cavs don’t get him, USC big man Evan Mobley would be a heck of a consellation prize.
Mobley could be a potential star on both ends for the Cavs.
Evan Mobley comes in at 7-foot and 210 pounds, and has a 7-foot-4 wingspan. He is a fluid athlete, versatile and is very long, and projects to be someone who really alters shots and has the makings of an elite shot blocker in the near future.
What we knew best about Mobley coming in was his elite defensive prowess and that he looks like someone that will be special defensively. Again, Mobley is a fluid athlete that moves very well, can handle the ball and has tremendous length as a shot blocker.
So far at USC through five games he’s been what everyone expected. Mobley is averaging 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and just under a steal per game at 0.8 steals.
Mobley, just from a pure talent standpoint, makes a ton of sense, but he’d look to be an ideal fit as well. The Cavs lost Tristan Thompson via unrestricted free agency to the Boston Celtics, for one.
Plus, according to a report from Sam Amico of OutKick and Forty Eight Minutes (formerly known as Amico Hoops), several opposing NBA executives believe Andre Drummond will be traded, and could perhaps be before the 2020-21 season by Cleveland.
Granted, based on what Amico would then hit on regarding those same execs, Drummond it would seem could still be around during next season a good bit, but it’d seem likely he’ll be traded at least by the 2021 deadline. For further context regarding that, you can view more here, though.
On top of Thompson’s departure and Drummond not appearing to likely be a long-term piece looking onward, Kevin Love isn’t getting any younger (he’s 32) and isn’t known as a defender. So, the Cavs could use a big man it seems in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Cavs going into the 2020 NBA Draft desperately needed help on the defensive wing, and they drafted a defensive stalwart in Okoro, who has reportedly made his presence felt on that end in a big way in training camp so far.
Okoro won’t fix everything in year one, but adding someone like Mobley would give them a type of shot blocker/defender they haven’t had in a while.
Albeit Mobley has potential to be a two-way star at the next level, and could be for Cleveland, if they were to draft him.
Mobley is known for his defensive prowess, but it should be said what’s most impressive about Mobley to this point are the vast improvements he’s made on the offensive end.
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On the season he’s averaging 17.6 points, shooting 44.4 percent from three-point range, though on 1.8 attempts per game (not a huge sample, I know) and hitting 61.1 percent from the field overall.
Additionally, at the start of this 2020-21 season, Mobley has also shown he’s a willing big man as a passer. He’s averaging 2.2 assists per outing and he’s been active on the glass, putting up 9.0 boards per game and averaging 3.2 on the offensive end.
His skill and feel offensively, in an overall sense, has really jumped out, and the passing/shooting capabilities further lead one to see big-time potential on the offensive end, too, to go with his defense.
Mobley has consistently shown off a mid-range game, too, and an ability to shoot very effectively beyond the arc, even while the sample size hasn’t been big there just yet.
Even to that latter point, he’s really begun to put that part of his game together.
One knock on Mobley prior to the season was sometimes he’d get pushed around in the paint, though.He still needs to add more muscle to his frame, and that’s clear, but he’s been a problem for teams on the interior so far and could very well looking forward into the year.
Plus, Mobley has also shown a nice set of post moves as well, and his footwork should only get better in that realm in the near future.
Coming into the collegiate season it seemed like Mobley had fallen off a little bit, probably headed for going #4 or #5 in the 2021 NBA Draft. That said, the way he’s played and the progress he’s shown has him seemingly rising.
I don’t see him catching Cade, but he could cement his status as a top 3 pick, going as high as #2.
Cunningham is the prize of the next draft, but Evan Mobley would be a great consellation prize as a potential two-way star, and would be a tremendous fit on the Cavs.