Cavs: 3 takeaways from Evan Mobley’s play in Summer League

Cleveland Cavaliers basketball is back, kind of. The Cavaliers recently concluded their play in Las Vegas Summer League, going 2-3. Among those donning the Wine and Gold for this 2021 Summer League was the third overall pick, and newest Cav, Evan Mobley.

In his three Summer League contests, Mobley showed some of his potential.

Coming into the 2021 NBA Draft, the big man out of USC managed to average a notable 16.4 points per game, with an additional 8.7 total rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. We saw some of what he could become at both ends of the floor, too, in his few Vegas Summer League games.

In the first matchup, the Cavs found themselves against the Houston Rockets, led by the second overall pick in this year’s draft in Jalen Green. Mobley had a bit of up and down outing, as he had 12 points and five rebounds, but shot 35.3 percent; he made his imprint in other ways, though.

While Mobley and the rest of the Cavaliers squad had played fairly well, ultimately, they were just short of victory thanks to Jalen Green and his 23 points and five rebounds for the game. Houston won 84-76.

Following their first outing in the 2021 Summer League, the Cavs came back swinging against the Orlando Magic. Cleveland would walk away the winners of this matchup, 94-84, which would not have been possible without the efforts of one Evan Mobley. In this second game, Mobley put up some nice numbers, with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The third game saw the Cavaliers losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, 87-74. Mobley’s scoring took a back seat for this game, with only eight points, but with three assists, a block and a steal, and 11 rebounds – he still had a solid outing.

Just in the span of three games, Mobley showed some growth. He’s projected to be one of the best rookies coming into the NBA, and it’s no wonder why, with stats like the ones he had in these first three Summer League games.

With that in mind, here, we’ll highlight three things that stood out from Mobley’s Summer League play for the Cavs.

To begin, let’s look at Evan Mobley on the defensive side of the ball.