Cavs: Evan Mobley receives vote of confidence in annual NBA GM survey

The Cleveland Cavaliers hoped to win the NBA Draft Lottery, to secure the first overall pick and get their choice of the best draft prospect. That didn’t quite come to pass, but the Cavs did still land at the No. 3 overall pick. It was from that position that they chose Evan Mobley, a multi-dimensional 7-footers out of USC, in the 2021 NBA Draft this past July.

Many draft pundits had Mobley as the second or even top player on their board, and nearly all agreed that Mobley was an elite-level prospect. Whether you defined the top tier as having three, four or five players in it, those groupings always included Evan Mobley.

The Cavs drafted Evan Mobley third in the 2021 NBA Draft, and he is a player with a lot of fans around the league.

Every season the NBA conducts a “GM survey” to poll the league on the teams, players and coaches. Who is expected to do well? To fall short? Which players should fans keep an eye on moving forward?

Part of the annual survey is asking about rookies. That includes the expected “who will win Rookie of the Year?” question. It also asks “which rookie will be the best player in five years?” to all of the GMs. This year’s survey revealed a surprise pick at the top.

That’s right – more than the first overall pick, Cade Cunningham, or the second pick Jalen Green, the league’s top decision-makers believe that Evan Mobley will be the best player in five years. Eat that Detroit!

More seriously, it’s not an insane choice for NBA GMs to make. Mobley is ultra-talented and his game is a perfect fit for the modern NBA. His thin frame will take time to fill out, which is why he got more support down the line than to win Rookie of the Year, where he did not receive a single vote.

The other thing to point out is that Mobley didn’t exactly run away with the vote, a reality that also makes sense. He finished in first, but Cunningham and Green finished close behind. The greatest takeaway is that the top of this year’s draft is really solid. Here’s how the voting broke down:

1. Evan Mobley, Cleveland – 33%
2. Cade Cunningham, Detroit – 30%
3. Jalen Green, Houston – 23%
4. Jalen Suggs, Orlando – 10%
5. Davion Mitchell, Sacramento – 3%

Winning this distinction is not a surefire prophecy on where a player will end up. Five years ago the GMs picked Ben Simmons, which looks like a solid pick five years later, and six years ago they took Karl-Anthony Towns, also a great pick.

Since then…not so great. Four years ago the GMs took Josh Jackson, who has a long uphill climb to pass Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell and make good on the prediction. Three seasons ago DeAndre Ayton and Jaren Jackson Jr. took first place, which seems reasonable until you consider that Luka Doncic and Trae Young also went in the Top 5. At least they didn’t go with Marvin Bagley III…

Two years ago the pick was Zion Williamson, which was both a no-brainer and the right choice. Last year? That is the most concerning one. The league’s GMs took James Wiseman over LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards.

All this to say, the league’s GMs are not prophets. They can’t predict the future. They don’t have the Time Stone. Yet it’s valuable to see how the rest of the league views a player. They could get it wrong, but right now a third of the league believes that the Cavs got the very best player in the entire draft, at the third pick. That counts for something.

Mobley has a long way to go to reach his potential, and five years is a long time. Odds are Mobley won’t end up being the best player in this draft, simply because there are a lot of other quality options. In addition to Green and Cunningham are Jalen Suggs, Scottie Barnes, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, etc.

Yet he has a great shot at it, and honestly just as much chance as anyone. It will be fun to watch him develop, and for now, it’s an exciting and encouraging vote of confidence that the Cavs made the right pick and found a franchise cornerstone.